A total of 227 local cricketers, including 12 icon players, are to be listed in the Players’ Draft, also known as Players By Choice system, of the Dhaka Premier League season 2018. The cricketers have been divided into seven different categories where the 12 premier league clubs will get to pick from. The Players’ Draft will be held on January 20.
The categories however, will have different figures of remuneration for different cricketers. The top five icon cricketers in the shape of Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have been set a remuneration of Tk35 lakhs each, while the others will get Tk25 lakhs.
The icon cricketers, except for wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das, will not be available for the full season, given their engagement with the national team. The 2018 season of the premier 50-over tournament of the country is scheduled to start from February 5 while the Bangladesh cricketers will be released from the national team on February 18. Bangladesh will start the New Year with the tri-nation ODI series against visiting sides Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe Monday, followed by Test match and T20I series against the Lankans at home.
In the Players’ Draft, a team will get a total of 11 rounds of "player calling" in addition to the icon round, and may pick a player from any grade. The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis has made it mandatory for the clubs to register a minimum of 15 local cricketers, of which, six must be picked from the Players’ Draft.
The 12 premier league clubs will have different deadlines to follow in the coming weeks. The CCDM is to hold a “briefing with the clubs” Sunday and on the same day, submit the five players the clubs want to retain from the previous season of the tournament. The icon cricketers cannot be retained by the clubs.
By next Wednesday, the clubs will have to clear 50% remuneration of the retained players and 50% payment of the cricketers picked from the Players’ by Choice system. If the clubs fail to meet the payment deadline, the CCDM if needed will hold a Players’ by Choice system for the unpaid players on February 3.
