The focus was solely on Rishad Hossain, who was not picked up by any franchises in the first six rounds before was eventually selected by Fortune Barishal in the 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League draft, which took place at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka on Monday.听
The leg-spinner was in category A, where the price cap was Tk 60 lakh, the highest for the local players.听
Including Rishad, three of the five players in this category were roped in by Barishal. National team captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudullah, who has recently retired from T20Is, are the other two.听
Taskin Ahmed was first roped in by the new franchise Durbar Rajshahi in the draft. Liton Das went to another new team, Dhaka Capitals.听
A total of 172 local and 440 foreign players were on the lists of the draft of the forthcoming BPL, which is scheduled to be held in late December.听
There will be three new franchises in this edition: Durbar Rajshahi, Dhaka Capitals, Chittagong Kings, along with the current Champion Fortune Barishal, Rangpur Riders, Sylhet Strikers, and Khulna Tigers.听
All the players from categories A, B, and C were picked except Mominul Haque and Mosaddek Hossain.听
They were both in category C. Mosaddek led Durdanto Dhaka last year. Also notable absentees were Shuvagoto Hom, who led Chattogram Challengers.听
Experienced Rubel Hossain, Sykat Ali, Nazmul Islam, and Fazle Mahmud Rabbi were also snubbed.听
Seventeen local players were either retained or directly signed, whereas 25 foreign players were directly signed by various franchises before the draft.听
The teams will have the opportunity to sign players 鈥� both local and foreign 鈥攅ven after the draft.听
Bangladesh Cricket Board president and chairman of the BPL governing council, Faruque Ahmed, hoped that they would be able to upend the level of the T20 tournament.听
鈥楾here are seven teams. We are trying many new things. It won鈥檛 be 100 per cent perfect, but it will be better than before,鈥� Faruque told reporters after the draft.
The squads after the draft:
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Dhaka Capitals
Direct Signings: Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzid Hasan Tamim (local), Thisara Perera, Johnson Charles, Amir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani, Stephen Eskinazi (foreign).
From the Draft: Liton Das, Habibur Rahman, Mukidul Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahrier, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mushfiq Hasan (local), Saim Ayub, Amir Hamza (foreign).
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Chittagong Kings
Direct Signings: Shakib Al Hasan, Shoriful Islam (local), Moeen Ali, Usman Khan, Haider Ali, Angelo Mathews, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Binura Fernando (foreign).
From the Draft: Shamim Hossain Patwary, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Alis Al Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahatul Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Pervez Jibon, Marshall Ayub (local), Graham Clark, Thomas O鈥機onnell (foreign).
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Durbar Rajshahi
Direct Signings: Anamul Haque Bijoy.听
From the Draft: Taskin Ahmed, Jishan Alam, Yasir Ali, Sabbir Hosan, Sunzamul Islam, S.M. Meherob Hasan, Akbar Ali, Hasan Morad, Shafiul Islam, Mohor Sheikh Antor (local), Saad Nasim, Lahiru Samarakoon (foreign).
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Fortune Barisal
Direct Signings: Towhid Hridoy (local), Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Ali Mohammad, Jahandad Khan (foreign).
Retained Players: Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim.
From the Draft: Mahmudullah, Tanvir Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ripon Mondol, Ebadat Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shohidul Islam, Ariful Islam (local), James Fuller, Pathum Nissanka, Nandre Burger (foreign).听
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Sylhet Strikers
Direct Signings: Jaker Ali (local), Paul Stirling, George Munsey (foreign).
Retained Players: Tanzim Hasan, Zakir Hasan.
From the Draft: Rony Talukder, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Ruyel Miah, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam (local), Rahkeem Cornwall, Samiullah Shinwari, Reece Topley (foreign).
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Khulna Tigers
Direct Signings: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (local), Oshane Thomas (foreign).听
Retained Players: Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed.
From the Draft: Hasan Mahmud, Naim Sheikh, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabbi, Mahmudul Hasan Joy (local), Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain (foreign).
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Rangpur Riders
Direct Signings: Mohammad Saifuddin (local), Alex Hales, Khushdil Shah, Allah Ghazanfar, Steven Taylor, Saurabh Netravalkar (foreign).
Retained Players: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan.
From the Draft: Nahid Rana, Saif Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Shukkur, Kamrul Islam, Towfiq Khan Tusher (local), Akif Javed, Curtis Campher (foreign).