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.”

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.