Mushfiqur eager to score runs in BPL !

After a  successful test series against England Cricket team, captain Mushfiqur Rahim is now focusing on the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He is confident he will be able to regain his form in the tournament. Mushfiq who is among the top scorers of the League will be playing for Barisal Bulls this season.

This will be his fourth team in four seasons. He played for Duronto Rajshahi in the innaugral season, followed by Sylhet Royals and Sylhet Superstars in the 2nd and 3rd season respectively. In season one he scored 234 runs at an average of 39 for the Duronto Rajshahi. Next season while playing for Sylhet Royals he scored 440 runs at an average of 40 in 13 innings. Including the knock of 86 runs which is still his highest scorer in Twenty/20 career.

Last season he was not at his best, scoring 157 runs only in 9 matches for Sylhet Superstars. He also struggled in national team after that failing to score two digit knocks on 5 occasions in his 9 next innings. Mushfiq who have played 169 first class Twenty/20 believes this format is not any ‘fun game’, as its said at times. He said, ” here every single ball is important. One or two ball can change the course of the whole game. Its very small but tensed game.”

The wicket keeper batsman wants to make of this season of Bangladesh Premier league (BPL) to improve his ability for the Twenty/20 format, ” I was unhappy with my performence last season. I have worked really hard to make a comeback this season. I want to contribute for my team, for which they selected me. The more I score, the more it will benifit my team”.

Whatmore to coach Barisal Bulls

Dav Whatmore is coming back in Bangladesh once again. But he is not coming for the national team. Barisal Bulls the runners-up of the third edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has appointed him as their head coach for the fourth edition of BPL which is going to be in the field from 4th November.

The owner of Barisal Bulls Abdul Awal Chowdhury has confirmed the news regarding the joining of Whatmore as the new coach. He said – “Dav Whatmore is going to be our head coach.” South African Graham Ford was the coach of Barisal Bulls in the last season of BPL.

The Australian was the head coach of Bangladesh National Cricket Team from 2003 to 2007. Under his coaching tigers had gathered a lots of happy memories. Especially this man had introduced the Bangladeshi tigers with the winning habit. Bangladesh has beaten teams like Australia, South Africa, and India for the first time under his coaching.

Before coming in Bangladesh he was the coach of Sri Lanka National Cricket Team and helped them to win their one and only World Cup in 1999. Later he became the coach of Pakistan and Zimbabwe National Cricket team.

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.