BPL 2019-20: Rajshahi Royals rope in Shoaib Malik for the upcoming season

He might have bowed out of ODIs in a less-than-satisfying way after the ICC World Cup in July but Shoaib Malik is still a force in the T20Is. The veteran of 360 T20s with over 9,000 runs has been roped in by Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) team Rajshahi Royals for the upcoming edition starting December 11.

The Royals announced the news of the former Pakistan captain featuring in their ranks in the seventh edition of the T20 league in Bangladesh on their official Facebook page. Malik will in fact be the Royals’ captain this year.

“20 Years of International Career! 9,120 T20 runs with an outstanding average of 37.22 including 54 half-centuries, also an amazing strike rate of 125..with 142 T20 wickets with best figure of 5/13. Remember the name Shoaib Malik! He will be our captain for this year of BPL,” the team’s official Facebook page announced.

Last season, Malik for Comilla Victorians that ended up as the champions for the second time beating former champions Dhaka Dynamites in the final. At the beginning of this year’s players’ draft on Sunday, it was, however, revealed that Malik would not be its part although the reason was not known. Hence, the sudden announcement that the batting all-rounder would be a part of the Royals did surprise many.

As per the rules of the BPL, the seventh edition of which has been named ‘Bangabandhu’ to honour Bangladesh’s ‘Father of Nation’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his birth centenary, the seven participating teams can sign two overseas players directly outside the draft list by negotiating personally with them. Royals zeroed in on the 37-year-old Malik by using this rule.

The full squad of the Rajshahi Royals is as follows:

Liton Das, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Farhad Reza, Taijul Islam, Alok Kapali, Irfan Shukkur, Minhajul Abedin Afridi, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Nahidul Islam, Ravi Bopara, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Irfan, Hazratullah Zazai and Shoaib Malik.