The players’ draft of the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League that ended in Dhaka on Saturday highlighted that teams mostly preferred young players over experienced campaigners.
Despite the lack of international experience and uncertainty over getting their services in the whole BPL season, the franchises included at least five players from the Bangladesh Under-19 team in their respective squad.
All-rounder Afif Hossain, who made a sensational BPL debut for Rajshahi Kings in the last year finishing with 5-21 against Chittagong Vikings, was set to play for new franchise Khulna Titans this year.
He, along with his under-19 skipper Saif Hasan, was included to Khulna team from grade ‘C’ with a price tag of Tk 12 lakh.
The upcoming BPL would be a new experience for the under-19 skipper along with some of his team-mates – all-rounder Nayeem Hasan and pacers Kazi Anik and Yeasir Arafat.
Yeasir and Nayeem would be representing Chittagong Vikings while Anik would be seen sharing the dressing room with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman in Rajshahi Kings.
Under-19 pacer Anik was delighted with his inclusion in the BPL and he was really happy to give his father a
surprise, who was more thrilled with his inclusion.
‘Most of the players got the opportunity to play in the BPL after playing Under-19 World Cup. I am obviously very happy and I am very grateful to Almighty for getting a call in the BPL before playing the World Cup,’ the 19-year old pacer told reporters on Sunday.
‘My father was happier than me hearing the news. I am very happy that I can surprise my father this time.
‘BPL is an international-standard tournament and your mentality needs to be higher here. You have to do all the things perfectly,’ he added.
Excited at being picked, another Under-19 pacer Yeasir spent the sleepless night only to get awaked with a promise to make his opportunity count.
‘I thought that the way the franchises were picking the players, they might not pick the Under-19 players. I was not sure whether I would be picked or not,’ the 18-year old pacer said.
‘I became very excited when I was picked from the draft and hoped that this grand tournament would help me play better in upcoming Under-19 World Cup. If I can take some of the experiences to the World Cup, it will make the rest of the work very easy for me.
‘Those four players who are included in the BPL, all are my friends. I am very happy for them. It would have been better if more players had gotten the chances,’ he added.
The rise of young players also signaled the end of BPL career for some of the experienced cricketers like former Under-19 skipper Sohrawardi Shuvo, pacers Shahadat Hossain, Robiul Islam and batsmen Junaed Siddique, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub as no franchises were interested in these players.
Although there are still possibilities for these players to play in this year’s BPL provided they meet some specific criteria but the snub in draft effectively dashed their realistic hopes.
Sohrawardi and Junaed also remained unpicked in the players’ draft last year but they got the opportunity to play after teams included them belatedly.
-With New Age input
