Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has deferred the introduction of franchises and players selection programme of the forthcoming National Cricket League Twenty20 to make room for the players who are yet to return from Port City League (PCL).

BCB's tournament committee chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain said that while the extra time would help the players have some rest before joining their respective teams it would also feed in the latest information about the players' fitness.

He also informed that five of the six divisional teams have already been sold to franchises.

There would be no auction for the first tournament and salary of the players would be restricted for this single-league tournament.

The national selectors have singled out icon players to make sure that the leading players are distributed equally among the teams. One team can register six foreign players but can field a maximum of two in a match.

With an eye on tuning up the national cricketers for the forthcoming Twenty20 World Championship in West Indies, the board has decided to launch its first-ever NCL T20 competition from April 11 to 20.

BCB has signed a deal with ATN Records to take care of the marketing aspects of the venture.