Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irfan and Yasir Shah were some of the Pakistan players who were snapped up in the player draft for the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) held on Sunday.
The trio will be among a total of seven Pakistan players who will turn out in the sixth edition of the BPL set to get underway on January 5, 2019.
Afridi was picked up by the Comilla Victorians in the first set of overseas players put up in the draft. Mohammad Irfan was selected by the Sylhet Sixers in the same set.
The Dhaka Dynamites secured the services of former England international Ian Bell while Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera was picked up by the Victorians.
West Indies all-rounder Fabian Allen was the first overseas player to be signed in Sunday’s draft with the Sylhet Sixers securing his signature.
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah was selected by the Khulna Titans in the second set of overseas players to put be up in the draft. The second set of overseas players also saw Sri Lanka veteran Lasith Malinga join Yasir in the Titans squad while West Indies opener Evin Lewis was snared by the Victorians.
Afghanistan’s Najibullah Zadran went the way of the Chittagong Vikings while his compatriot Gulabdin Naib was picked up by the Sylhet Sixers.
In the third set of overseas players, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Sami was picked up by Rajshahi Kings while his compatriot Amin Yamin will represent the Victorians.
Pakistan veteran Shoaib Malik has earlier been retained by the Victorians while pacer Sohail Tanvir had been retained by the Sylhet Sixers. This means there will be a total of seven players from Pakistan who will participate in the sixth edition of the BPL.
As many as 366 overseas players had entered their names in Sunday’s player draft which was held at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in Dhaka.
Among the domestic players, Bangladesh stalwart Mushfiqur Rahim was retained by the Victorians just ahead of the draft. Former Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful also made his return to the league after five years out with the Chittagong Vikings securing his services. The 34-year-old has only recently completed serving his five-year ban for match-fixing in the 2013 edition of the BPL.
FULL SQUADS
Dhaka Dynamites: Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Hazratullah Zazai, Naeem Sheikh, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Qazi Onik, Mizanur Rahman, Andrew Birch, Ian Bell, Rony Talukdar, Shuvagata Hom, Rubel Hossain and Nurul Hasan
Rangpur Riders: Chris Gayle, Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, AB de Villiers, Alex Hales, Benny Howell, Oshane Thomas, Abul Hasan, Fardeen Hossain, Nahidul Islam, Nadif Chowdhury, Ravi Bopara, Rilee Rossouw, Farhad Reza, Mehedi Maruf, Shafiul Islam and Sohag Gazi
Chittagong Vikings: Mushfiqur Rahim, Sikandar Raza, Luke Ronchi, Sanjamul Islam, Mohammad Shahzad, Robbie Frylinck, Shadman Islam, Najibullah Zadran, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nihaduzzaman, Mohammad Ashraful, Robiul Haque, Cameron Delport, Dasun Shanaka, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Nayeem Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain and Abu Jayed
Sylhet Sixers: Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Liton Das, Sohail Tanvir, David Warner, Sandeep Lamichhane, Pat Brown, Nicholas Pooran, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Gulbadin Naib, Andre Fletcher, Alok Kapali, Zakir Ali, Nabil Samad, Ebadat Hossain, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Irfan, Al Amin Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain and Taskin Ahmed
Rajshahi Kings: Mominul Haque, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Zakir Hasan, Qais Ahmed, Christiaan Jonker, Mohammad Sami, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ryan ten Doeschate, Marshall Ayub, Kamrul Rabbi, Isuru Udana, Laurie Evans, Arafat Sunny, Soumya Sarkar, Fazle Rabbi and Alauddin Babu
Khulna Titans: Mahmudullah, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Carlos Brathwaite, Dawid Malan, Ali Khan, Brendan Taylor, Lasith Malinga, Yasir Shah, Tanvir Islam, Mahidul Ankon, Subashish Roy and Junaid Siddique, Zaheer Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Taijul Islam, Al Amin, Jahurul Islam and Shariful Islam
Comilla Victorians: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoaib Malik, Asela Gunaratne, Liam Dawson, Amin Yamin, Evin Lewis, Waqar Salamkheil, Shamsur Rahman, Sanjit Saha, Mosharraf Hossain, Mohammad Shahid, Shahid Afridi, Thisara Perera, Abu Haider Rony, Anamul Haque, Mehedi Hasan and Ziaur Rahman
