The Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019 draft has been held Sunday, with Dhaka Platoon roping in both Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe bin Mortaza.
Dhaka picked Tamim in their first call of the first round of the local player draft, and Mashrafe in their second call of the fourth round. The selection raised a few eyebrows, as both were categorized as A+ players.
According to the rules and regulations of the draft provided by the organizers, each team is allowed a maximum of one A+ local player and one A+ overseas player.
A total seven teams will participate in this special edition of the BPL, as in previous years. The teams are: Dhaka Platoon, Khulna Tigers, Rajshahi Royals, Sylhet Thunder, Chattogram Challengers, Cumilla Warriors and Rangpur Rangers.
All of the teams are now fully-owned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, although five of them are also backed by sponsors. The sponsored teams are Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Chattogram, while Cumilla and Rangpur will be run solely by the BCB.
Each of the teams has been assigned to a BCB director. Jalal Yunus will be responsible for Chattogram, Hossain Siraj to Rajshahi, Khaled Mahmud to Khulna, Naimur Rahman to Cumilla, Akram Khan to Rangpur, Tanjil Chowdhury to Sylhet, and Golam Mortuza to Dhaka.
In the draft system, the pick order is randomized by lottery after each round, and there are two picks for each team per round. Each team picks one player first, before picking a second in reverse order.
Photo: Dhaka Tribune/Md Manik Khulna were lucky to get the first pick in the first round of the local player draft, and were quick to snap up national team wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim. Having received second pick for the round, Dhaka took Tamim.
Chattogram’s first pick was Mahmudullah, while Rajshahi took Liton Das, Sylhet Mosaddek Hossain, Cumilla Soumya Sarkar, and Rangpur Mustafizur Rahman.
Mashrafe was the only A+ local player to go unsold after the first round, with the other three players in the category being Mushfiq, Tamim and Mahmudullah.
In the first picks of the first round of the foreign player draft, Chattogram took Chris Gayle, while Khulna picked Rilee Rossouw, Rajshahi Ravi Bopara, Sylhet Sherfane Rutherford, Cumilla Kusal Perera, Rangpur Mohammad Nabi, and Dhaka Thisara Perera.
Among the other notable picks, Dhaka got Shahid Afridi and Mehedi Hasan, Khulna got Mohammad Amir, and Chattogram picked Nasir Hossain.
The tournament will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on December 8.
Squads
Chattogram Challengers 
Mahmudullah , Imrul Kayes, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Chris Gayle(West Indies), Kesrick Williams(West Indies), Nurul Hasan, Enamul Haque, Muktar Ali, Pinak Ghosh, Avishka Fernando(Sri Lanka), Rayad Emrit(West Indies), Nasum Ahmed, Junaid Siddique, Ryan Burl(Zimbabwe), Imad Wasim(Pakistan)
Cumilla Warriors 
Soumya Sarkar, Al-Amin Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Yasir Ali, Kusal Perera(Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rahman(Afghanistan), Sunzamul Islam, Abu Hider, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Sumon Khan, Dawid Malan(England), Dasun Shanaka(Sri Lanka), Fardeen Hasan Ony
Dhaka Platoon 
Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Hasan Mahmud, Mahedi Hasan, Thisara Perera(Sri Lanka), Laurie Evans(England), Ariful Haque, Mominul Haque, Shuvagata Hom, Mashrafe Mortaza, Wahab Riaz(Pakistan), Asif Ali(Pakistan), Raqibul Hasan, Jaker Ali, Shahid Afridi(Pakistan), Luis Reece(England)
Khulna Tigers
Mushfiqur Rahim, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Aminul Islam, Rilee Rossouw(South Africa), Robert Frylinck(South Africa), Shamsur Rahman, Saif Hassan, Mehedi Hasan, Shahidul Islam, Mohammad Amir(Pakistan), Najibullah Zadran(Afghanistan), Tanvir Islam, Aliss Islam, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(Afghanistan)
Rajshahi Royals 
Liton Das, Afif Hossain, Abu Jayed, Farhad Reza, Ravi Bopara(England), Hazratullah Zazai(Afghanistan), Taijul Islam, Alok Kapali, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Irfan Sukkur, Mohammad Nawaz(Pakistan), Mohammad Irfan(Pakistan), Minhajul Abedin Afridi, Nahidul Islam
Rangpur Rangers
Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Naim, Arafat Sunny, Jahurul Islam, Mohammad Nabi(Afghanistan), Shai Hope(West Indies), Taskin Ahmed, Zakir Hasan, Fazle Mahmud, Nadif Chowdhury, Rishad Hossain, Lewis Gregory(England), Cameron Delport(South Africa), Sanjit Saha
Sylhet Thunders
Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Islam, Sohag Gazi, Sherfane Rutherford(West Indies), Shafiqullah, Rony Talukdar, Nayeem Hasan, Delwar Hossain, Monir Hossain, Johnson Charles(West Indies), Naveen-ul-Haq(Afghanistan), Ruyel Miah, Jeevan Mendis(Sri Lanka)
