Fed Cup starts today in new format

The curtain on the Federation Cup is set to rise today with a slightly different format as franchise T20 cricket has been followed in knockout rounds to give an edge to the favourites of the tournament.

On the opening day, defending champions Bashundhara Kings will take on Brothers Union at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla while Bangladesh Police FC will square off against Fortis FC at the Rofique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.

Federation Cup used to feature three or four groups before the knockout stage rounds, featuring quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.

This time, though, 10 participating have been teams split into two groups and the top two teams from each group will enter into the four-team knockout stage, a format styled after franchise cricket tournaments, with two qualifiers and an eliminator deciding the finalists.

"I don't see any benefit of this format, and I think it has been introduced to bring a hype. Besides, this format will give edge to the favourites. If they somehow slip in the knockout stage, they will get another chance to make up," Chittagong Abahani coach Saifur Rahman Moni opined.

Moni, a former national team forward who was recently been elected as a member of Bangladesh Football Federation, believes the title race will be between Bashundhara Kings and Mohammedan even though the long duration of the tournament will give other teams opportunity to recover from injury issues.

The participating teams will also get an opportunity to replace poor-performing players before the knockout stage, which will start after the midseason transfer window.