Bangladesh A

Bangladesh A measures its progress against India A and Pakistan A rather than against any league table, since the side exists to prepare cricketers for the senior Tigers rather than to chase a trophy of its own. That work showed in the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, when the team reached the final and lost to Pakistan A by 77 runs; four years later it went out at the semi-final stage against India A, beaten by 51 runs. In the T20 version of the tournament in 2024 it finished fifth in its group, a reminder that the format still counts for less than the players it produces.

That production line is the point of the side. Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman and, more recently, Towhid Hridoy all passed through Bangladesh A before becoming fixtures for the national team, and selectors still watch the side as much for who might graduate from it as for what it wins.

Matches at home are shared between the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, seating around 25,000, and the BKSP ground in Savar, where the team played its first-class debut in January 2002 against Pakistan. Neither venue belongs to Bangladesh A alone, and the side spends much of its calendar touring rather than hosting. It wears the same green and red as the senior team, a link the board never tried to blur.

The rivalry with India A carries an edge beyond the scorecard, echoing the countries' senior fixtures, while the contest with Pakistan A has run since 2004 and produced the closest finishes the emerging side has known. Both grew out of a team the Bangladesh Cricket Board set up on 2 January 2001 as a second tier for players not yet ready for, or newly dropped from, the full national side.