Fortune Barishal have acquired Mushfiqur Rahim as the most high-profile pick in the BPL draft held in Dhaka on Sunday. Led by Tamim Iqbal, the side that lost in the eliminator last season, also picked Yannic Cariah, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Saifuddin during the draft.
But it was defending champions Comilla Victorians who made some big-name signings. They were conservative in the draft because they already had Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine and Iftikhar Ahmed among their 11 overseas signings before the draft took place. During the draft, they picked the West Indian duo Rahkeem Cornwall and Matthew Forde, apart from bringing back their championship winning captain Imrul Kayes.
Sylhet Strikers, who were runners-up last season, retained the talismanic Mashrafe Mortaza, while Najmul Hossain Shanto was their direct signing from among the local players. Mohammad Mithun and Rezaur Rahman Raja were their draft picks.
Khulna Tigers went for the Sri Lankan duo of Dasun Shanaka and Kasun Rajitha among their overseas picks, having already named Nasum Ahmed and Nahidul Islam as their retentions.
Big-spenders Rangpur Riders have Shakib Al Hasan as their main man, and they got Rony Talukdar and Shamim Hossain among their local picks in the draft. They also picked Michael Rippon, who moved from Netherlands to New Zealand recently, and USA allrounder Yasir Mohammad among their overseas names.
BPL 2024 is scheduled to begin in mid-January, once again clashing with the BBL, ILT20 and SA20 which will run around the same time. Here are the draft picks, direct signings and retentions for each team:
Comilla Victorians
Retained & direct signings: Litton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanvir Islam, Towhid Hridoy, Mohammad Rizwan, Sunil Narine, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Iftikhar Ahmed, Zaman Khan, Khushdil Shah, Johnson Charles, Noor Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Rashid Khan
Draft picks: Imrul Kayes, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Zaker Ali Anik, Mahidul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Mushfik Hasan, Rahkeem Cornwall, Matthew Forde
Sylhet Strikers
Retained & direct signings: Mashrafe Mortaza, Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan Burl, Ben Cutting, Harry Tector
Draft picks: Mohammad Mithun, Rezaur Rahman Raja, Ariful Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nazmul Islam, Shafiqul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Jawad Rowen, George Scrimshaw, Richard Ngarava, Dushan Hemantha, Sameet Patel
Khulna Tigers
Retained & direct signings: Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Anamul Haque, Evin Lewis, Faheem Ashraf, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shai Hope, Dasun Shanaka, Mohammad Waseem Jr
Draft picks: Afif Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Mukidul Islam Mughdho, Akbar Ali, Kasun Rajitha
Durdanto Dhaka
Retained & direct signings: Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Arafat Sunny, Mosaddek Hossain, Chaturanga de Silva, Sam Aiyub, Usman Qadir
Draft picks: Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasan, Irfan Sukkur, Sabbir Hossain, Alauddin Babu, SM Mehrob Hossain, Lahiru Samarakoon, Sadeera Samarawickrama
Chattogram Challengers
Retained & direct signings: Shuvagata Hom, Ziaur Rahman, Nihaduzzaman, Shohidul Islam, Mohammad Haris, Nazibullah Zadran, Mohammad Hasnain, Stephen Eskinazi
Draft picks: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Al-Amin Hossain, Shykat Ali, Imran Uzzaman, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Salahuddin Sakil, Curtis Campher, Bilal Khan
Fortune Barishal
Retained & direct signings: Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ibrahim Zadran, Shoaib Malik, Paul Stirling, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Dunith Wellalage
Draft picks: Mushfiqur Rahim, Rakibul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Soumya Sarkar, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Pritom Kumer, Yanik Cariah
Rangpur Riders
Retained & direct signings: Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Babar Azam, Matheesha Pathirana, Brandon King, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ihsanullah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nicholas Pooran
Draft picks: Rony Talukdar, Shamim Hossain, Ripon Mondal, Hasan Murad, Michael Rippon, Fazle Mahmud, Yasir Mohammad, Abu Hider Rony, Ashikuzzaman