Sports Desk

The players’ draft for the 11th edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) took place at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the city on Monday. The seven BPL franchises completed their squads through the draft and they were happy with the squad they could build on the day.

Current champions Fortune Barishal probably built the strongest team on the paper to retain their trophy. They picked the likes of Bangladesh’s all-format captain Najmul Hossain, Mahmudullah, Rishad Hossain, Ebadot Hossain from the draft. They had already signed Towhid Hridoy via direct signing and retained Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim from the previous edition. Apart from the star-studded local list, they also have Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Ali Mohammad, Jahandad Khan in their foreign arsenal.

Franchises happy after BPL players’ draft"We tried to build a strong team. We selected almost every player who was part of our team in the last campaign. We will try to gift everyone good cricket. We have Tamim Iqbal with us, I hope he will gift you all some good cricket by leading from the front," MD Mizanur Rahman, owner of Fortune Barishal, told the reporters after the players’ draft on Monday.

“Tamim Iqbal is almost the owner of Fortune Barishal, he is the leader of Fortune Barishal," he added.

"We all planned together to build the team, me, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim. So it is our teamwork to build this team."

Rangpur Riders may not have a star-studded team like the previous few editions, they’ve also lost Shakib Al Hasan to Chittagong Kings, but their team director Shanian Taneem thinks they have a good team to compete in the upcoming edition.

They picked Nahid Rana, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Sukkur, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Tawfique Khan Tushar from the local list on Monday while also picking Akif Javed and Curtis Campher from foreign list. They had already signed Mohammad Saifuddin, Alex Hales, Khushdil Shah, Allah Ghazanfar, Steven Taylor and Saurabh Netravalkar before the draft.

“We are confident that we have a better understanding with the players who had already played for us. They understand the environment and mentality of the team. We brought Rakib in this time. Saifuddin has been playing in MLC for our sister concern. We have a good relationship with the players. I think environment wise, we have a very good team," Taneem said after the players’ draft.

“The communication has been better from BCB, we see some positives already. Whenever we have questions, they are answered in a very short time. They have been cooperating with the franchises really well. The draft, I think, was better organised. We are hopeful the situation will start to get better from this year and if we see improvement this time, we will do even better next time," he added.

Chattong Kings on their return to the BPL after 10 years, surprised everyone by signing Shakib Al Hasan before the draft. Shoriful Islam also joined their team. From the draft, they picked Shamim Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Aliss Al Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahatul Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Marshall Ayub (local), Graham Clarke and Thomas O’Connell (foreign).

"We tried to build a balanced team. We got 90% of the players that we wanted," Kings owner Sameer Quader Chowdhury said.
He also cleared the air behind Shakib’s move from Rangpur Riders.

“Yes we had a talk. When we learnt that he will get a clearance to play in Bangladesh, we contacted Rangpur Riders. So after discussions with them, we signed Shakib."

“Obviously, my first draft. Impressed with the draft today, it's been really well organised. Very relaxed. So far so good, the draft has been a good day. And hope the tournament follows suit and it's really well organised tournament which it promises to be," Shaun Tait who will be coaching the Kings, said.

Khulna Tigers is another team who built a solid squad on Monday. They picked Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Naim, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, Mahmudul Hasan Joy (local), Mohammad Hasnain, Lewis Gregory and Mohammad Nawaz (foreign) from the draft after signing Mehidy Hasan via direct signing.

“The way we planned our team last night, we got the first six calls according to our plan,” Iqbal Al Mahmud, owner of Khulna Tigers said.

All-rounder Mosaddek Hossain, Shuvagata Hom and batter Mominul Haque were three key players who got snubbed in the draft. Mosaddek captained Dhaka Dominators while Mominul went unpicked in the previous season. Hom led Chattogram Challengers.

Dhaka Capitals

Direct signings: Mustafizur Rahman and Tanzid Hasan Tamim
Foreign direct signings: Thisara Perera, Johnson Charles, Amir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani and Stephen Eskinazi
From the draft: Liton Kumer Das, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Mukidul Islam, Abu Jayed, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahriar, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Musfik Hasan (local), Saim Ayub and Amir Hamza Hotak (foreign)

Chittagong Kings

Direct signings: Shakib Al Hasan and Shoriful Islam
Foreign direct signings: Moeen Ali, Usman Khan, Haider Ali, Angelo Mathews, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Binura Fernando
From the draft: Shamim Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Aliss Al Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahatul Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Marshall Ayub (local), Graham Clarke and Thomas O’Connell (foreign)

Durbar Rajshahi

Direct signing: Anamul Haque Bijoy
From the draft: Taskin Ahmed, Jishan Alam, Yasir Ali, Sabbir Hossen, Sanjamul Islam, SM Meherob Hasan, Akbar Ali, Hasan Murad, Md. Shafiul Islam, Mohor Sheikh (local), Saad Nasim and Lahiru Samarakoon (foreign)

Fortune Barishal

Direct signing: Towhid Hridoy
Retained players: Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim
Foreign direct signings: Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Ali Mohammad, Jahandad Khan
From the draft: Mahmudullah, Tanvir Islam, Najmul Hossain, Ripon Mondol, Ebadot Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shohidul Islam, Ariful Islam (local), James Fuller, Pathum Nissanka and Nandre Burger (foreign)

Sylhet Strikers

Direct signing: Jaker Ali Anik
Retained players: Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Zakir Hasan
Foreign direct signings: Paul Stirling and George Munsey
From the draft: Rony Talukder, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Ruyel Miah, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam (local), Rahkeem Cornwall, Samiullah Shinwari and Reece Topley (foreign)

Khulna Tigers

Direct signing: Mehidy Hasan
Retention players: Afif Hossain and Nasum Ahmed
Foreign direct signing: Oshane Thomas
From the draft: Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Naim, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, Mahmudul Hasan Joy (local), Mohammad Hasnain, Lewis Gregory and Mohammad Nawaz (foreign)

Rangpur Riders

Direct signing: Mohammad Saifuddin
Retention players: Nurul Hasan Sohan and Mahedi Hasan
Foreign direct signings: Alex Hales, Khushdil Shah, Allah Ghazanfar, Steven Taylor and Saurabh Netravalkar
From the draft: Nahid Rana, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Sukkur, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Tawfique Khan Tushar (local), Akif Javed and Curtis Campher (foreign).