BPL kicks off tomorrow with T20 World Cup in focus

The 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is all set to roll onto the ground tomorrow with the national players taking the tournament, considered as the most competitive event of the country, as the preparation platform for upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and West Indies in June.

The tournament will kick off with the match between defending champions Comilla Victorians and new comer Durdanto Dhaka.

The match will start at 2.30pm. In the day’s other match, Sylhet Strikers will take on Chattogram Challengers, which will begin at 7.30 PM. Both of the matches will be held at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

T Sports and Gazi Television will telecast the whole BPL live from the stadium.

“No doubt, BPL will help a lot since T20 World Cup is ahead. This is our prime T20 tournament. Everyone wants to draw the attention by performing well here. I think the tournament will benefit us in preparing for the T20 World Cup,” said national pacer Shoriful Islam, who will be playing for Durdanto Dhaka in this season.

However the timing of the next matches will be different one from the inaugural day’s matches. In weeks days, the first match will start at 1.30 PM while the second match is at 6.30 PM. The Friday’s first match will kick off at 2 M while the second game is from 7pm.

Comilla Victorians, Rangpur Riders, Durdanto Dhaka, Khulna Tigers, Fortune Barishal, Chattogram Challengers, and Sylhet Strikers are the seven team of the tournament which will fight it out for the BPL crown.

A total of 46 matches in 43 days will be hosted by the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, and the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet across three cities.

Dhaka is though not the new team in BPL, it will play under new owner this time.

“Whenever anyone makes a team, his target is to become champions. But in reality, our first challenge is to qualify for knockouts. Sometimes it needs luck to become champions,” Khaled Mahmud Sujon, who is acting as Dhaka coach said.

The hype of the tournament is not expected as it should be. However the BCB officials believe the frenzy will reach fever pitch when the tournament starts.

“There was national polls and everyone was busy with it. So we can’t do much work to create the hype but the behind the work was going to run the tournament smoothly. Once it will roll onto the ground, the hype will create automatically,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.

Unlike the previous tournaments, the BCB vowed to make the tournament a run-fest. Several BCB directors of late said that the pitch, specially the Mirpur pitch, which is historically slow and low, will be prepared such way that it produces big scoring match.

For making the commentary better than the previous time, the organizers brought up famed Pakistan commentator Ramiz Raja. The former PCB chairman Raja will join in the commentary with his compatriot Aamir Sohail, West Indies former great Curtley Ambrose, Sri Lankan Russel Arnold and South African HD Ackerman. The local commentators however will be there to run the show along with them.

The DRS system will be in action right from the start of the tournament this time around, the officials confirmed.

The lowest price of a BPL match ticket is Tk. 200 while the highest price is set at Tk. 2500. The Eastern stand ticket can be purchased at Tk. 200, North/South Stand at Tk. 400, Club House at Tk. 800, VIP Stand at Tk. 1500 and Grand Stand at Tk. 2500. Tickets will be go on sale at match day and previous day will be found at Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium and ticket selling counter, adjacent to gate no. 1 of Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

BPL Squad

Comilla Victorians:

Retained and Direct Signing: Liton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sunil Narine, Towhid Hridoy, Moeen Ali Andre Russell, Iftikhar Ahmed, Zaman Khan, Khushdil Shah, Johnson Charles, Nur Ahmed, Nasim Shah, Rashid Khan.

From Draft: Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Jaker Ali Anik, Mahidul Islam Ankan, Rishad Hossain, Rahkeem Cornwall, Matthew Walter Ford, Imrul Kayes, Musfik Hasan, Anamul Haque.

Durdanto Dhaka:

Retained and Direct Signing: Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Shoriful Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Chaturanga de Silva, Siyam Ayub, Osman Qadir.

From Draft: Saif Hassan, Irfan Shukkur, Alauddin Babu, Mehrob Hossain, Lahiru Samarakun, Samira Samawickrama, Naim Sheikh, Sabbir Hosen, Jasimuddin.

Chattogram Challengers:

Retained and Direct Signing: Shuvagata Hom, Ziaur Rahman, Nihaduzzman, Shohidul Islam, Mohammad Haris, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Hasnain, Steven Eskandi.

From Draft: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Al Amin Hossain, Shykat Ali, Imranuzzman, Curtis Campher, Bilal Khan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Salahuddin Shakil.

Khulna Tigers:

Retained and Direct Signing: Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan, Enamul Haque, Evin Lewis, Fahim Ashraf, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shai Hope, Wasim Junior,

From Draft: Afif Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Kasun Rajitha, Dasun Shanaka, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Akbar Ali, Sumon Khan.

Rangpur Riders:

Retained and Direct Signing: Nuru Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nicholas Pooran, Shakib Al Hasan, Babar Azam, Ehsanullah, Matheesha Pathirana, Brandon King, Wanindu Hasaranga.

From Draft: Rony Talukdar, Shamim Patwari, Ripon MOndal, Hasan Murad, Michel Ripon, Yasir Mohammad, Abu Haider Rony, Fazle Rabbi, Ashikuzzman.

Fortune Barishal:

Retained and Direct Signing: Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ibrahim Zadran, Tamim Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Paul Stirling, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Dunith Wallalage.

From Draft: Mushfiqur Rahim, Roqibul Hasan, Saifuddin, Soumya Sarkar, Yannic Cariah, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Pritom Kumar, Taijul Islam, Prantik Nowroze Nabil, Dinesh Chandimal.

Sylhet Strikers:

Retained and Direct Signing: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan Burl, Ben Cutting, Harry Tector.

From Draft: Mohammad Mithun, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Ariful Haque, Yasir Ali Rabbi, Richard Ngarava, Dushon Hemantha, Najmul Islam Apu, Shofiqul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Jawad Rowen, Salman Hossain Emon.

**(Teams also recruit players apart from draft and direct signing after the players draft). (BSS)