As Bangladesh's premier T20 tournament returns after more than two years, ESPNcricinfo picks out seven players who could make a splash this season and push for higher honours in the coming days.
Will Jacks - Chattogram Challengers
The big-hitting Surrey batter, who can also pitch in with handy offspin, adds to England's already vast talent pool in white-ball cricket. He hit 309 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of just a shade under 150 in the 2020 Vitality Blast, where Surrey finished runners-up. Since being named the Vitality Blast Player of the Year in 2020, Jacks has enjoyed greater exposure, having had stints with Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Oval Invincibles in the Hundred and Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 league more recently. His first BPL stint with Chattogram Challengers is another testament to his growing white-ball stature.
Kennar Lewis - Chattogram Challengers
Lewis is another hard-hitting top-order batter who will be featuring in his first BPL. At Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL, he has spent most of his time in the shadow of Andre Russell. While there are questions over Lewis' fitness, this is another chance for him to step out of the shadows and shine in the T20 spotlight. In CPL 2021, Lewis shellacked 195 runs off 117 balls in powerplays at a strike rate of 166.66. He was also at it in the T10 league and in the Lanka Premier League.
Tanvir Islam - Comilla Victorians
The left-arm spinner has the best bowling average and economy rate, and one of the best strike rates, in domestic T20 competitions in the last two years in Bangladesh. Much of it came during last year's Dhaka Premier League (DPL), when he took 20 wickets at an average of 9.35 while representing Shinepukur Cricket Club.
A typical Bangladeshi left-arm spinner who hits good lengths consistently and has great accuracy, Tanvir attracted attention by taking 50 wickets in his first two DPL seasons. The selectors noticed his numbers and picked him for Bangladesh A in 2019, and he has also represented teams like the Emerging Team and Under-23s. He has taken a combined 25 wickets in first-class and List A matches in the 2021-22 domestic season, putting him in good form ahead of this season's BPL, a tournament where he only has two wickets in eight games.
Fazalhaq Farooqi - Minister Group Dhaka
Farooqi remains Afghanistan's most promising pace-bowling prospect aside from Naveen-ul-Haq, having already established himself as a T20 - and T10 - globetrotter. The left-armer has a good inswinger and a fairly deceptive offcutter that tricked batters who threatened to line him up during his stint with Delhi Bulls in the T10 league. He was also roped in as a reserve bowler by Chennai Super Kings last year, when he bowled with sharp pace and bounce at the nets. Farooqi is likely to join the Dhaka squad after playing for Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series against Netherlands, which ends on January 25.
Obed McCoy - Fortune Barishal
The West Indies left-arm seamer, who foxed Australia with his slower-ball variations at home in mid-2021, has since spent most of his time on the sidelines with injury. He hasn't played a competitive match since that T20I World Cup game against England in Dubai. Dominic Drakes, who was a back-up bowler at the World Cup, has now taken McCoy's national spot, but this BPL is McCoy's opportunity to prove his fitness and form.
Parvez Hossain Emon - Comilla Victorians
The left-hand opener has been one of the top-three six-hitters in Bangladesh's domestic T20 scene over the last two years. He shot to fame with the fastest T20 century by a Bangladesh batter in 2020. Emon struck seven sixes and nine fours in that 42-ball knock in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup. And although Mohammedan Sporting Club in Dhaka signed him for the DPL T20s last year, he couldn't quite get going, managing just one fifty in 14 games. Emon has also scored just one half-century in the 2021-22 domestic season so far, but at 19, he has a lot of time and potential opportunities lined up.
Jake Lintott - Fortune Barishal
After being a wildcard pick in the Hundred, Lintott emerged as Southern Brave's top wicket-taker, and subsequently won a deal with Barbados Royals in the CPL. In a Barishal side that has two premier Bangladesh left-arm spinners - Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam - it is hard to imagine an overseas left-arm spinner getting a look-in. Lintott, however, brings something different: a T20 specialist who bowls left-arm wristspin. Throw Lintott in the mix, and Barishal's spin attack could still be potent even without Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who will be on national duty for Afghanistan in the early exchanges of the BPL.