The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is poised to commence in December, with franchises already gearing up for the eleventh edition. In addition to retaining a select few players, teams have begun signing others directly.
Today, October 14, marks the players’ draft for the 11th edition of the BPL, taking place at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Activities for the draft kicked off at 11:30 am following the earlier release of the price list and categories for local players. This year, 188 local cricketers have been finalized across six categories.
The highest allocation for ‘A’ class cricketers is set at Tk 60 lakh, a decrease from Tk 80 lakh in the previous edition. Consequently the prices for cricketers in each category have been reduced by Tk 10 lakh.
A total of 440 overseas cricketers have been listed for selection in the players’ draft, with 20 elite players eligible to earn up to $70,000 (Tk 83.5 lakh) in the top ‘A’ category. The player distribution includes 38 foreign players in the ‘B’ category, 66 in ‘C’, 135 in ‘D’ and 181 in ‘E’.
The new franchises in the seven-team BPL 2025 include Dhaka Capitals, Chittagong Kings, and Durbar Rajshahi. According to the draft rules, the four established franchises can retain a maximum of two local players from their previous squad and may recruit one additional local player from any category as a direct signing.
The governing council of the BPL announced that the three newly awarded franchises can sign two local players from any category directly from the local players’ draft list.
Dhaka Capitals
- Direct signings: Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzid Hasan Tamim.
- Foreign direct signings: Thisara Perera, Johnson Charles, Amir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani, Stephen Eskinazi.
- From the draft: Litton Kumar Das, Habibur Rahman, Mukidul Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Saim Ayub, Amir Hamza Hotak, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahriar, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mushfiq Hasan.
Chittagong Kings
- Direct signings: Shakib Al Hasan, Shoriful Islam.
- Foreign direct signings: Moeen Ali, Usman Khan, Haider Ali, Angelo Mathews, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Binura Fernando.
- From the draft: Shamim Hossain Patwary, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Aliss Al Islam, Graham Clark, Thomas O’Connell, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahat-ul-Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Parvez Rahman, Marshall Ayub.
Durbar Rajshahi
- Direct signing: Anamul Haque.
- From the draft: Taskin Ahmed, Zisan Alam, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Sabbir Hossain, Saad Nasim, Lahiru Samarakoon, Sanjamul Islam, SM Meherob Hasan, Akbar Ali, Hasan Murad, Shafiul Islam, Mohr Sheikh.
Fortune Barishal
- Direct signing: Towhid Hridoy.
- Retained: Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim.
- Foreign direct signings: Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Ali Mohammad, Jahandad Khan.
- From the draft: Mahmudullah Riyad, Tanvir Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ripon Mondol, James Fuller, Pathum Nissanka, Ebadot Hossain, Naeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Nandre Burger, Shahidul Islam, Ariful Islam.
Sylhet Strikers
- Direct signing: Zakir Ali Anik.
- Retained: Tanzim Hasan, Zakir Hasan.
- Foreign direct signings: Paul Stirling, George Munsey.
- From the draft: Rony Talukdar, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Rahkeem Cornwall, Samiullah Shenwari, Ruyel Miah, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam, Reece Topley.
Khulna Tigers
- Direct signing: Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
- Retained: Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed.
- Foreign direct signing: Oshane Thomas.
- From the draft: Hasan Mahmud, Naeem Sheikh, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Mohammad Hasnain, Lewis Gregory, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabbi, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mohammad Nawaz.
Rangpur Riders
- Direct signing: Mohammad Saifuddin.
- Retained: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan.
- Foreign direct signings: Alex Hales, Khushdil Shah, Allah Ghazanfar, Steven Taylor, Saurabh Netravalkar.
- From the draft: Nahid Rana, Saif Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Akif Javed, Curtis Campher, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Shukkur, Kamrul Islam, Toufiq Khan Tushar.