The players’ draft for the Bangladesh Premier League third edition came as heartbreak for some seasoned local cricketers as there were no takers for them.
Prodigious leg-spinner Jubair Hossain is among the most prominent cricketers to be overlooked by BPL franchises, who also did not show any interest for Alok Kapali, Marshal Ayub, Farhad Hossain, Roqibul Hassan, Sadman Islam, Tasamul Haque, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Imtiaz Hossain, Sohrawardi Shuvo and Robiul Islam.
Some of these cricketers are scoring heavily in the ongoing National Cricket League as Marshal, Imtiaz, Tasamul scored at least two centuries while Farhad, Sadman, Sohrawardi scored at least one.
The exclusion of Alok Kapali was a kind of surprise considering his ability as a batsman and useful leg spinner.
The BPL governing council selected 130 local players for drafting but only 57 were able to find a team. Only three franchises – Barisal Bulls, Chittagong Vikings and Comilla Victorians — completed their quota of minimum 10 local players while rest of the franchises picked nine players each.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan indicated teams will be allowed to pick some players beyond the draft as provided they have available slots.
The maximum quota for local players is 13.
‘I think some of them will be picked,’ Nazmul told reporters after the draft. ‘But they need to be picked as per their price tag.’
It was learnt that Comilla Victorians moved to confirm Kapali as they lack quality middle-order batsman.
-With New Age input
