Sports Desk: Like last year, 7 franchises will participate in BPL. Among them, the name and ownership of three have changed: Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi. Among them, Dhaka will play under the name of Dhaka Capitals, and Chittagong will play under the name of Chittagong Kings. Durbar Rajshahi is the new addition. Comilla Victorians is not participating this time.
The BPL 2025 season will start at the end of this year. Before that, 7 franchise teams have been selected from today’s players draft. The draft started at a five-star hotel in the capital on Monday at 11 a.m. Let’s see which team selected whom in today’s draft.
Durbar Rajshahi
Desi: Taskin Ahmed, Zeeshan Alam, Yasir Ali, Sabbir Hossain, Sanjamul Islam, SM Mehrab Hossain, Akbar Ali, Hasan Murad, Shafiul Islam, Mohr Sheikh.
Foreigners: Saad Nasim, Lahiru Samarakun.
Dhaka Capital
Desi: Liton Das, Habibur Rahman, Mukidul Islam, Abu Zayed, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahriar, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain.
Foreigners: Saim Ayub, Amir Hamza.
Chittagong Kings
Desi: Shamim Hossain, Parvez Hossain, Khaled Ahmed, Alis Al Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahatul Ferdous, Sheikh Parvez, and Marshall Ayub.
Foreigners: Graham Clarke, Thomas O’Connell.
Khulna Tigers
Desi: Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Naeem, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam, Abu Haider, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman, Mahmudul Hasan.
Foreigners: Mohammad Hasnain, Lewis Gregory.
Rangpur Riders
Desi: Nahid Rana, Saif Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Rezaur Rahman, Irfan Sukkur, Kamrul Islam, Taufiq Khan.
Foreigners: Akif Javed, Curtis Kampfer.
Sylhet Strikers
Desi: Rony Talukder, Mashrafe Bin Murtaza, Al Amin Hossain, Arafat Sani, Ruel Miah, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam.
Foreigners: Rahkeem Cornwall, Samiullah Shenwari, Rhys Topley.
Fortune Barisal
Desi: Mahmudullah, Tanveer Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Ripon Mondal, Ibadat Hossain, Naeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shahidul Islam, Ariful Islam.
Foreigners: James Fuller, Pathum Nishanka, Nandre Berger.
Besides, the franchises have brought many players to the team on direct contracts. Among them, Shakib Al Hasan and Shariful Islam have joined the Chittagong Kings team. Dhaka Capitals signed with Mostafizur Rahman and Tanjid Hasan. Besides, Tawhid Hriday in Fortune Barisal, Zaker Ali in Sylhet Strikers, Mehdi Hasan Miraj in Khulna Tigers, Mohammad Saifuddin in Rangpur Riders, and Enamul Haque in Durbar Rajshahi.
As of this season, each team will be able to retain two players from the previous season. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim were retained by the current champions, Fortune Barisal. Among others, Sylhet strikers Tanjim Hasan and Zakir Hasan, Khulna Tigers Nasum Ahmed and Afif Hossain, and Rangpur Raiders Nurul Hasan and Mehedi Hasan have been retained.
In the Players Draft, the local cricketers are divided into 6 categories. There are 12 cricketers in the ‘A’ category. They will get 60 lakhs. The cricketers in the next stages will get respectively Category B- 40 lakhs, Category C- 25 lakhs, Category D- 20 lakhs, Category E- 15 lakhs, and Category F- 10 lakhs.
440 foreign cricketers were named in the players draft to play in the BPL. 6 of which have already signed direct contracts. Rangpur Riders have added 3 foreigners to the team from outside the draft. One from England, two from Pakistan. Rangpur Riders have announced that England’s Alex Hales and Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah have signed for the entire season. Apart from this, Fortune Barisal has recruited David Malan, Sylhet strikers George Mansi and Paul Sterling, and Khulna Tigers Oceane Thomas.
The remaining 434 names will be called in the players’ draft. Only 16 foreign players have been bought by 7 franchises from the players draft. Fortune Barisal and Sylhet Strikers bought maximum three. Teams insist on direct contracts for foreign players.
