Six franchises in search of players to complete the roster

The players’ draft of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20 will take place at a city hotel today where the representatives of the six franchises will select players to complete their roster.

Chief Executive Officer of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Nizamuddin Chowdhury told the media on Sunday that almost 400 foreign cricketers have already registered their names for the players’ draft, scheduled to start from 1200 PM,

“More than 400 cricketers from various countries have shown their interest to play in the BPL.  They have completed their online registration through their agents or agencies”, he told the reporters at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

The CEO could not reveal the exact number of foreign players interested because the list was not finalized at that time,

“I can’t say the names because there is still some time left and by today, we will get the clear picture about who is retained by the franchises or who will be in the draft. Those who are out of the draft, they are recruited directly by the franchises, you will get to know everything by today”, said the CEO.

As per the rules set by the BCB, a team can recruit one local player from any category as a direct signing prior to the Player Draft.

A maximum of three players can be registered outside of the Player Draft as direct signings.

According to social media posts by various franchises and media interactions by the owners, most of the franchises have filled in their spot of the one local player from outside the draft.

Chattogram Challengers, in the verified Facebook account, claimed that they have included left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed as a direct local signing, they also secured the services of Caribbean batsman Kenner Lewis and English all-rounder, Benny Howell.

Another franchise, Comilla Victorians through the verified Facebook page also informed that they have picked Sunil Narine, Faf Du Plessis, and Moeen Ali outside of the draft.

Apart from them, there are also the names of some of the leading cricketers in the player’s list who will be up for grab for the BBPL T20.

Wanindu Hasaranga, Sandip Lamichane, Isuru Udana, and Ravi Bopara are some of the top-grade foreign players in the draft while players who performed well in previous editions like Ahmad Shehzad, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit are also on the list.

 Apart from the regular international cricketers, a large pool of local players also registered their names for BPL.

A team will be entitled to register a minimum of ten 10 and a maximum of 14 local players. Except for the one direct signing, all other local players must be obtained from the Player Draft.

 The number of registered Bangladeshi players for each team cannot exceed fourteen at any point during the tournament.