Looks of Seven teams after player draft

The most excitement segment of the fourth season of Bangladesh Premier League ( BPL) , the players draft has come to end. This segment of BPL has taken place today at 6:30 pm at Radisson Water Garden Hotel in capital city Dhaka. Channel Nine who is the official broadcaster of BPL has telecasted it live for all the cricket lovers across the world.

All the seven franchises who are participating in this edition of BPL have chosen their preferable players from this players draft segment .Let’s have a look how the team looks now –

Barishal Bulls : Mushfiqur Rahim (Icon), Al-Amin Hossain , Taijul Islam, Dilshan Munabera , Mohammad Nawaz , Karlos Brafet , Shamsur Rahmam , Abu Haider Rony, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Nadif Chowdhury, Carlon Brathwaite, Josh Cobb, Mehedi Hasan, Monir Hossain Khan, Shahriar Nafees.

Chittagong Vikings : Tamim Iqbal (Icon), Taskin Ahmed, Anamul Haque , Cris Gayle, Dwayne Smith , Shoieb Malik , Chaturanga de Silva , Mohammad Nabi, Grant Elliot, Imran Khan Jnr, Abdur Razzak, Shubashis Roy, Johurul Islam , Najmul Hossain Milon, Jeavan Mendis, Tymal Mills, Jakir Hasan, Md Shohidul Islam, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Jubair Hossain, .

Comilla Victorians : Mashrafe Bin Mortoza, Imrul Kayes, Liton Kumar das, Sohel Tanvir, Emad Wasim,Asgar Zaidi, Nuan Kulasekara , Tesara Perera , Khalid Latif, Shahzib Hasan ,Mohammad Al-Amin, Najmul Islam Shanto, Nahidul Islam, Md Saifuddin, Jeson Holder, Shahzaib Hasan, Nazmul Hasan Shanto, Mohammad Shorif, Nabil Samad, Jasim Uddin, Shoikat Ali, Rasel Al Mamun, Jeson Holder .

Dhaka Dynamites: Shakib Al Hasan (Icon), Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Kumar Sangakkara, Andre Russel, Mahela Jawabardane, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lowis, Rovi Bopara , Seekuge Prasanna , Wayne Parnell, Sanjamul Islam, Alauddin Babu ,Shohrawardi Shuvo, Mehedi Maruf, Mohammad Shorif, Imran Shukkur, Tanvir Haidar Khan, Usama Mir .

Khulna Titans : Mahmudullah Riad ( Icon), Mosharrof Rubel, Shofiul Islam, Nicholas Puran, Ricky wales, Kevin Cooper, Mohammad Asgar, Benny Hawal, Lendl Simmons, Ben Laughlin, Shuvagoto Hom, Ariful Haque, Md Abdul Majid, Andre Fletcher, Alok Kapali, Junaid Khan, Ariful Haque, Md Hasanuzzaman, Naem Islam jnr, Nur Hossain Saddam, Saidur Rahman, Abdul Halim .

Rajshahi Kings : Sabbir Rahman (Icon), Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mehedi Hasan Miraj, Darren Summy, Mohammad Summy, Milinda Siriwardana, Upul Tharanga, Mominul Haque,Farhad Reza, Najmul Hasan opu, Raqibul Hasan, Samit Patel, Abul Hasan Raju, Roni Talukdar, Salman Hossain, Ibadat Hossain, Samit Patel .

Rangpur Raiders : Soumya Sarkar ( Icon) , Mohammod Mithun, Arafat Sunmy, Shohid Afridi, Sharjil Kha, Babor Azam,Mohammad Shehzad, Dasun Shanaka, Gidron Pop, Richard Glison, Nasir Jamshed, Suchitra Sananayeka, Rubel Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Jiaur Rahman, Naem Islam, Pinak Gosh, Muktar Ali, Mehrab Hossain Jossy, Shahbaz Chouhan, Sharjil Khan, Gihan Rupasinghe.

Khulna Titans target exciting cricket in BPL

Khulna Titans, new franchise for this year’s Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20, officially launched their logo yesterday at a city hotel, ahead of the players’ draft, scheduled for today at Radisson Water Garden Hotel.

Directors of Gemcon Group and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, members of the BPL governing council, Khulna’s category “A+” player Mahmudullah and the team’s technical advisor, national selector Habibul Bashar were present among others at the logo-launching ceremony.

During the ceremony, BCB director Kazi Inam Ahmed declared Mahmudullah as the captain of Khulna for the upcoming fourth edition of the money-spinning tournament, slated for November 4.

Australian coach Stuart Law has been named as the head coach of the team while Kazi Emdadul Bashar Ripon was declared as the assistant coach.

Former Bangladesh opening batsman Nafees Iqbal is the team manager.

“We (Khulna) want to play exciting, honest and fun cricket. We have a dynamic young management. We are delighted to have our icon player Mahmudullah Riyad as the captain of the team. We hope, under his leadership, we will play good cricket and win the hearts of our fans,” said Inam.

On the other hand, Bashar said he is looking forward to some exciting cricket from Khulna.

“I think we have worked hard with our strategy for the players’ draft. I cannot say if we will end up as the champions but I hope we will be able to come up with a decent squad with the aim of giving some exciting cricket to the Khulna supporters and BPL,” said Bashar.

Meanwhile, Mahmudullah also echoed the same sentiment.

“I am happy to have become a part of such a wonderful team. Like Sumon bhai (Bashar) said, we will play positive and exciting cricket and give our best shot in every match that we play.”

All the franchises retained 2 players

A total of 38 foreign players have been bought by the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 franchises ahead of the players’ draft, scheduled to be held on Friday. The most eye-catching purchase was perhaps that of West Indies big-hitter Chris Gayle, who will feature for Chittagong Vikings in the fourth edition of the money-spinning tournament.

Gayle was signed for five matches and the left-hander will be available for the latter stages of the tournament that gets underway on November 4. The Jamaican cricketer previously played for Barisal Bulls in the last edition.

Meanwhile, according to the member secretary of the BPL governing council, Ismail Haider Mallick, there will be no icon player in the upcoming edition as they have decided to change it into “A+” category where the players can choose their own team.

Shakib al Hasan will receive Tk55 lakhs, the highest among the seven A+ players, and turn out for Dhaka Dynamites.

Tamim Iqbal will once again play for Chittagong, Mushfiqur Rahim for Barisal and Mahmudullah for Khulna Titans while Mashrafe bin Mortaza was retained by defending champions Comilla Victorians. Each of these four A+ cricketers will pocket Tk50 lakhs.

Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar, the new A+ category players, will feature for Rajshahi and Rangpur Riders and get Tk40 lakhs each.

“The seven icons, who are the most senior players, came to us officially and asked us to let them choose their own team. In other countries, the local players get the same as foreign players. Thirty-eight foreign players have already been bought. And their pricing is very high. For example, Gayle, Andre Russell, Kumar Sangakkara and Imad Wasim; they are getting a lot more than the A+ players. So we adjusted accordingly,” Mallick told the media on Wednesday.

The “A” grade category players will receive Tk25 lakhs, “B” Tk18 lakhs, “C” Tk12 lakhs and “D” Tk five lakhs.

On the other hand, the BPL GC has decided that the franchises can retain two A category players from the previous season.

Dhaka retained Mosaddek Hossain and Nasir Hossain, Chittagong kept Taskin Ahmed and Anamul Haque, Rangpur retained Arafat Sunny and Mohammad Mithun, Comilla kept Imrul Kayes and Liton Kumar Das while Barisal retained Al Amin Hossain and Taijul Islam.

It was also decided that the foreign coaching staff of the Bangladesh team will not be able to be a part of any franchises. However, the local coaches can be a part of the teams, along with the national selectors, who were not allowed to take part in the previous edition.

Foreign players signed by franchises before draft:

Chittagong Vikings: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shoaib Malik, Chaturanga de Silva and Mohammad Nabi

Comilla Victorians: Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim, Ashar Zaidi, Nuwan Kulasekera and Thisara Perera

Dhaka Dynamites: Kumar Sangakkara, Andre Russell, Mahela Jayawardene, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis and Ravi Bopara

Khulna Titans: Nicholas Pooran, Riki Wessels, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Asghar and Benny Howell

Rajshahi: Darren Sammy and Mohammad Sami

Rangpur Riders: Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Shahzad, Dasun Shanaka, Gidron Pope and Richard Gleeson

Barisal Bulls: Dilshan Munaweera

Local players retained by franchises before draft:

Dhaka Dynamites: Mosaddek Hossain and Nasir Hossain

Chittagong Vikings: Taskin Ahmed and Anamul Haque Bijoy

Rangpur Riders: Arafat Sunny and Mohammad Mithun

Comilla Victorians: Imrul Kayes and Liton Kumar Das

Barisal Bulls: Al Amin Hossain and Taijul Islam

168 overseas players added in BPL-4 draft

The fourth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is all set to begin on November 4. The Players’ Draft will be held on the 30th of September. Each team must draft a minimum of eight and a maximum of 11 players must be selected from the draft. Rajshahi and Khulna the two new BPL teams will get the first pick from each category and the second pick from the B, C and D categories. 

A total of 168 foreign players have registered for this year BPL. Each team have to pick a minimum of three and a maximum of 12 foreign players. BPL governing council has already made the list of ‘Players draft’. There are most 42 Pakistani cricketers, then England have 36, West Indies 35, Srilanka 15,  Zimbabwe 12,  Afghanistan 10,  Australia 4, Netherlands 4,  South Africa 3,  Ireland 2, New Zealand 2, Scotland 1,  Canada 1.

Let’s have a glance on the foreign players list:

‘A’ Catagory (70,000 USD) : Ryan Ten Doschate, Grant Elliot, Ahmad Shahzad, Misbah Ul Haque, Mohammad Hafeez, Harschelle Gibbs, Seekkuge Prasanna, Jason Holder, Lendl Simmons.
 
‘B’ Catagory (50,000 USD) : Liam Dawson, Jade Dernbach, James Vince, Chris Nash, Owais Shah, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Maqsood, Junaid Khan,Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Aizaz Cheema, Kamran Akmal, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Nawaz, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Graeme van Buuren, Chamara Kapugedara, Upul Tharanga, Sachithra Senanayake, Kaushal Silva, Ryad Emrit, Fidel Edwards, Denesh Ramdin, Assad Badyr Fudadin, Carlos Ricardo Brathwaite, Jerome Everton Taylor, Johnson Charles, Sean Williams.

‘C’ Catagory (40,000 USD) : Ben Hilfanhaus, Ben Laughlin, Yasir Arafat, Joe Denly, Ajmal Shahzad, Peter Trego, Graham Onions, Ross Andrew Whiteley, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, James Franklin, Mohammad Irfan, Salman Butt, Abdur Rehman, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Faisal Iqbal, Asad Shafiq, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Ehsan Adil, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Kyle James Coetzer, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Ravi Rampaul, Shane Shillingford, Navin Stewart, Andre Fletcher, Tino Best, Krishmar Santokie, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Suliman Benn, Kirk Anton Edwards, Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Malcolm Waller, Hamilton Masakadza.
 
‘D’ Catagory (30,000 USD) : Rashid Khan, Ashghar Stanikzai, Najibullah Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Nawraz Mangal, Gulabdin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Shapoor Zardan, Hameed Hasan, Evan Gulbis, Tom Beaton, Nikhil Dutta, George Edwards, Tymal Mills, Max Waller, Kishen Shailesh Velani, Phil Mustard, Rob Ian Keogh, Adeel Malik, Luis Michael Reece, Michael John Richardson, Usman Arshad, James Foster, John Simpson, Daryl Mitchell, Mohammad Azharullah, Joshua Cobb, Alex George Wakely, Adam Rossington, Sajid Mahmood, Brett Hutton, Nathan Buck, Harry Gurney, Monty Panesar, Ahsan Malik, Mudasser Bukhari, Peter Boren, Rumman Raess Khan, Mohammad Hassan, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Azeem Ghumman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Zafar Gohar, Amer Yamin, Muhammad Irfan, Hasan Ali, Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hasan, Fawad Alam, Awais Zia, Anwar Ali, Imran Khan, Imran Khan Junior, Usama Mir, Ajantha Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Udara Jayasundera, Ramith Rambukwella, Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa, Danushka Gunathilaka, Gihan Rupasinghe, Angelo Perera, Mohammad Naveed Saleem, Imran Khan, Akeal Hosein, Chris Barnwell, Miguel Cummins, Leon Johnson, Raymond Anton Reifer, Devon Sheldon Smith, John Dillon Campbell, Shimron Odilon Hetmyer, Veerasammy Permaul, Jonathan Lyndon Carter, Ronsford Rodwick Beaton, Kyle Rico Mayers, Danza Pacino Hyatt, Chadwick Walton, Jason Mohammed, Narsingh Deonarine, Craig Ervine, Chris Mpfou, Graeme Cremer, Neville Madziva, Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza Butt, Sean Ervine.

Noted that, There will 46 matches, including three play-off games and the final. All matches will be held in Dhaka and Chittagong and will run for over a month, with the final slated for December 9.

Gayle to play for Chittagong Vikings in BPL 2016

Chris Gayle has signed up to play five matches in the Bangladesh Premier League 2016-17 for Chittagong Vikings, and will be available for the latter half of the tournament that begins on November 4 in Dhaka. Gayle, who played for Barisal Bulls in the 2015-16 edition, is among the 31 foreign players signed up by the seven franchises before the players' draft scheduled for September 30.

Apart from Gayle, Chittagong, who finished as the bottom-ranked team in 2015-16, have signed four other foreign players - Dwayne Smith, Shoaib Malik (played for Comilla Victorians last season), Chaturanga de Silva and Mohammad Nabi (from Rangpur Riders).

Foreign players signed by franchises before the draft

• Barisal Bulls: Dilshan Munaweera
• Chittagong Vikings: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shoaib Malik, Chaturanga de Silva, Mohammad Nabi
• Comilla Victorians: Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim, Ashar Zaidi, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thisara Perera
• Dhaka Dynamites: Kumar Sangakkara, Andre Russell, Mahela Jayawardene, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Ravi Bopara
• Khulna Titans: Nicholas Pooran, Riki Wessels, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Asghar, Benny Howell
• Rajshahi Kings: Darren Sammy, Mohammad Sami
• Rangpur Riders: Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Shahzad, Dasun Shanaka, Gidron Pope, Richard Gleeson

Gayle had scored 139 runs in four matches for Barisal last season, while Nabi took seven wickets and scored 37 runs for Rangpur in seven matches. Smith had last played the tournament in 2013, while de Silva was the top wicket-taker in this year's Dhaka Premier League one-day tournament.

Ryan ten Doeschate, Grant Elliott, Ahmed Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Herschelle Gibbs, Seekugge Prasanna, Jason Holder and Lendl Simons will enter the draft and have been placed in the A category for foreign players. Their salary cap is $70,000 while foreign players in categories B, C and D can earn up to $50,000, $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Australian players Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Tom Beaton and Evan Gulbis will also be a part of the draft. Thirty-six English players are part of the draft list, including James Vince, Liam Dawson, Jade Dernbach and Graham Onions.

Defending champions Comilla Victorians have signed on Imad Wasim, Thisara Perera and Sohail Tanvir while retaining Ashar Zaidi and Nuwan Kulasekera. Imad, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, is set to make his first appearance in the Bangladesh Premier League, while Perera and Tanvir played for Rangpur Ryders and Sylhet Super Stars last season.

Kumar Sangakkara will be joined by Mahela Jayawardene at Dhaka Dynamites. The franchise has also signed Andre Russell (from Comilla), Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis (from Barisal) and Ravi Bopara (from Sylhet).

Rangpur Riders have enlisted Shahid Afridi (from Sylhet Superstars), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Shahzad, Dasun Shanaka, 19-year-old West Indies batsman Gidron Pope and English pace bowler Richard Gleeson. This will be the first BPL appearance for the six new players in the Rangpur squad. Pope had impressed scouts in Bangladesh with his big-hitting abilities in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, where he scored 232 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 107.9.

While Barisal Bulls have only signed up Dilshan Munaweera so far, Rajshahi Kings have picked Darren Sammy and Mohammad Sami. Nicholas Pooran, Riki Wessels, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Asghar and Benny Howell have been signed by Khulna Titans.

133 cricketers included in the ‘Palyers draft of BPL4

Ahead of the fourth season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), BPL governing council has made  the list of ‘Players draft’.  From where the franchises will pick their preferred cricketers in their teams for the upcoming BPL. After the meeting of the technical committee of BPL, they has made a list of 133 cricketers by dividing them in five categories including ‘Icon’ category for the ‘Players draft’.

The clash of ‘Players draft’ between the participating teams will be held on 30 September in Dhaka.

Alongside with the 7 cricketers of  ‘Icon cricketers’ , the technical committee has put the name of 11 cricketers on ‘A category’, 35 cricketers on ‘B category’, 53 cricketers on ‘C category’ and 27 cricketers on ‘D category’.

The technical committee has  also fixed the base price of those categories. According to their taken decision the base price of the cricketers are fixed respectively 25 lacs, 18 lacs, 12 lacs and 5 lacs for the cricketers of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ categories.

Now, let’s have a look on the list of ‘Palyers draft’ for BPL season 4-

Icon Cricketers: Shakib Al Hasan (base price 55 lacs), Mushfiqur Rahim (50 lacs), Tamim Iqbal (50 (50 lacs), Mahmudullah (50 lacs), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (50 lacs), Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar (40 lacs Taka).

‘A’ Category (base price 5 lacs Taka): Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Litton Kumar Das, Hom Chowdhury, Nasir Hossain, Md Mithun, Mominul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain and Abdur Razzak.

‘B’ category (18 lacs): Nurul Hasan Sohan, Alok Kapali, Sohag Gazi, Abu Haider Ronnie, Mosharraf Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taijul Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Ali beach, beach Mosaddeq Hossain, Shahriar Nafees Ahmed, Naeem Islam, Rony Talukder, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Jahurul Islam , Rafiqul Hasan, Marshall Ayub, Mohammad Al-Amin, Mahmud Hasan, SCC, Abul Hasan, Ziaur Rahman, Muktar Ali, Alauddin Babu, Shafiul Islam, Mohammad Shahid, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, prayers judgment, Saqlain spirited, Enamul Haque Jr, Sanjamul Islam, Nazmul Hossain Apu, Shuvo and Mehdi Hasan Miraz.

‘C’ category (12 lacs): Abdul Majid, Mehedi Maruf, Imtiaz Hossain Tanna, Asif Ahmed Ratul, nadipha Chowdhury, tasamula Haq, Mohammad Sharif, Zubair Hussain, writing, Rajin Saleh, Tushar Imran, Mehrab Jr., maisukura Rahman, Irfan Sukkur, Abhishek Mitra, Mahbub Karim, Amit Majumder , Dhiman Ghosh, Tanvir Haider, Hamidul Islam Himel, Shadman Islam, Mizanur Rahman, Zubair Ahmed, Ahmed Fazle Rabbi, jabida Hussein, Yasser Ali Saif Hassan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Junaid Siddique, Farhad Hossain, Mehdi Hassan, Saifuddin, sariphaullaha, Mohammad Furkan, Rabiul Islam, Delwar Hossain, Mahbub Alam, Abu Zaid traveler, Dewan Sabbir Rahman, Shahidul Islam, Dollar Mahmud, Sajedul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Elias Sunny , nihadujjamana, Asif Hasan, Naeem Jr., Monir Hossain, Biswanath Halder, Rahatul Ferdous, Nabil Samad, Nur Hossain and Shahadat Hossain Munna.

‘D’ category (5 lacs): Jayaraj Sheikh, Pinak Ghosh, Shafiul ridaya Hayat, Anik Ali Zaker, Sayeed government, manager Ashiquzzaman, Noor Alam Saddam, worship Hossain, Abdul Halim, sanajita Saha, Johnny Ariful Islam, Shaon Ahmed Saleh, Ahmed sadikura Rahman, Mehrab Hossain Josie Russell al Mamun, Rajib Karim, Johnny Habibur Rahman, Cheap Russell, Mehdi Hasan Rana, isamula Abir Ahsan, nasuma Ahmed, Iftikhar Sajjad, Murad Khan, Humayun Kabir Shahin, Nayan Ghosh, Ghosh Rony and Jupiter Ghosh.

Gayle goes to Chittagong, Afridi to play for Rangpur in the BPL 4

Fourth edition of Bangladesh Premier League will kick off from 4 November. Before beginning this tournament, the Participating teams will face each-other in the battle of ‘Players draft’ on September 30 in Dhaka. 

Seven teams will be participating in the upcoming BPL season four as Rajshahi and Khulna have made a comeback in the BPL after a break. Already, It has learnt that BPL governing committee has been fixed seven ‘icon’ cricketers for the participating teams ahead BPL season 4.

Reliable sources have ensured that, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman and young Soumya Sarkar are the Icon cricketers and will be playing in the BPL season 4 respectively for Dhaka, Barishal, Comilla, Khulna, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Rangpur.

It has also learnt sources that participating teams have been already ensured some foreign cricketers to play for their side in the BPL . According to the reliable sources, Dhaka Dynamites are ahead in this list, they have already picked up eight foreign cricketers in their squad including Dwayne Bravo, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Andre Russell, and Ravi Bopara.

On the other side, Chittagong Vikings have ensured the dashing hard hitter batsman, Chris Gayle for their side. Although Comilla Victorians lose Andre Russel to Dhaka Dynamites, they have been retained Samuels, Nuwan Kulasekara and Zaidi.

Shahid Afridi goes to Rangpur Riders and West Indians Darren Sammy all set ready to entertain BPL for Rajshahi.

Shakib Al Hasan becomes top icon for BPL

Tigers allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was selected as the top icon in the Bangladesh Premier League by the technical committee of the T20 franchise competition.

Shakib will don the colours of Dhaka Dynamites in the upcoming BPL  scheduled to begin on November 4 after the franchise secured his services for Taka 55 lakh. Dhaka are also looking to rope in top cricketers like Dwayne Bravo, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Andre Russell and Ravi Bopara, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

The player draft for BPL will be organized on September 30, however the seven designated icons will not feature in the event. Icons had the privilege to choose the team they will represent, and they have made their decisions final.

Bangladesh ODI and T20 skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will lead the current champions Comilla Victorians once again. Tamim Iqbal didn’t desert Chittagong Vikings. Mushfiqur Rahim went to Barisal Bulls. Mahmudullah Riyad joined Khulna Titans. Sabbir Rahman will appear for Rajshahi. Soumya Sarkar is Rangpur Riders’ icon while Shakib was secured by Dhaka Dynamites.
In total 133 cricketers have been sorted in five categories: Icon, A, B, C and D. 11 players in category A are valued at Taka 25 lakh. In group B, 35 cricketers are valued at Taka 18 lakh. 53 players in group C will receive Taka 12 lakh each while group D has 27 players valued at Taka five lakh each.
Expect the icons, the rest of the cricketers will be picked by the franchises during the players draft on September 30. Each franchise can retain two local cricketers from the last year’s roster. The franchises have had talks with their chosen foreign players, and will submit their names to the technical committee of BPL in a day or two.
Chris Gayle may star for Chittagong Vikings while Comilla retained Ashar Zaidi, Marlon Samuels and Nuwan Kulasekara. Boom Boom Afridi will blast away for Rangpur while Darren Sammy may be seen in Rajshahi’s dug-out.

List of Icons:

Shakib Al Hasan-55 lakh

Mushfiqur Rahim-50 lakh

Tamim Iqbal-50 lakh

Mahmudullah-50 lakh

Mashrafe Mortaza-50 lakh

Sabbir Rahman-40 lakh

Soumya Sarkar-40 lakh

BPL 4 all set to feature seven teams

The fourth season of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 will feature seven teams after the BPL governing council declared new franchises for Khulna and Rajshahi.

BPL GC chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha declared the two new teams in a press conference on Wednesday.

The BPL GC chief informed that the Khulna franchise were awarded to Gemcon Group while Rajshahi went to Mango Entertainment. The money-spinning T20 tournament will begin on November 4 with the grand finale set for either December 7 or 8.

“We have included two new teams – Khulna and Rajshahi. There were many others who had shown interest for buying a franchise but we have a tight national calendar ahead. The Bangladesh team will have a camp in Australia before they tour New Zealand in December so we cannot include more teams in the BPL as it will only extend the fixture,” said Sinha following a BPL GC meeting.

Khulna were previously owned by Orion Group while Rajshahi belonged to Digital Auto Care.

Meanwhile, Sylhet Superstars, owned by Alif Group, have been scratched as a franchise. According to BPL GC member secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, the franchise had breached discipline and were irregular with payment.

“At the moment, none of the franchises owe us money. Everyone has cleared their dues. We had to remove the Sylhet franchise due to disciplinary issues and they had owed the BCB money, which was realised through their bank guarantee,” Mallick explained.

The players’ draft for the upcoming BPL will be held on September 30. The BPL GC has decided to allow each of the franchises to retain two local players from the last season.

In that case, it is understood that the two new franchises – Khulna and Rajshahi – will be given advantage to choose the local players before the draft.

However, a final decision is yet to be made by the BPL GC on this issue. A detailed outline on the players’ draft will be announced in a day or two.

On the other hand, the broadcasting rights were retained by Channel 9 but only for this season. Channel 9 was the broadcaster of the previous three seasons.

“Channel 9 will broadcast the tournament but for this year only. We will float tender following the 2016 season and award broadcasting rights to the rightful one for three years,” said Mallick.

BPL 4 kicks off Nov 4, player draft Sep 30

The fourth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 is set to kick off on November 4, 2016.

The BPL’s governing council of the Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to hold the player draft of the event on September 30, 2016. There will be seven teams in this season’s BPL.

Khulna and Rajshahi have returned as franchises to join Comilla Victorians, Barisal Bulls, Rangpur Riders, Dhaka Dynamites and Chittagong Vikings.

Sylhet Super Stars meanwhile, will not be a part of the BPL fourth edition after their contract was terminated for breaching the franchise agreement terms and conditions.

The BCB had invited expression of interest for the franchise rights of Rajshahi and Khulna and subsequently four organisations – Gemcon Group, Mango Entertainment Limited, Tanveer Food Limited, a concern of Meghna Group of Industries, and Labaid Group, have been shortlisted after scrutiny.

Gemcon Group and Mango Entertainment have specifically expressed interest in owning the Khulna and Rajshahi franchises respectively. The BCB will announce the names of the successful franchises after the Eid-ul-Adha break.