Khulna Titans up their game with new foreign signings

The stature of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is increasing leaps and bounds over the years. This time it is one of the franchises in the league that has upped their game. Khulna Titans have made a big announcement on Thursday confirming the signing of three big names of T20 cricket. Apart from retaining English all-rounder Benny Howell for their upcoming campaign, West Indian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite alongside English all-rounder Dawid Malan have been roped in by Khulna for the BPL T20 2017 edition.

While retaining Junaid Khan, the franchise bought Sarfraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Chris Lynn and Rilee Rossouw for this season, roping in nine foreign cricketers for the upcoming battle in early November. Khulna Titans are hopeful of these signings coming off particularly because they now have big T20 stars that are proven match winners.

Benny Howell played five matches for Khulna Titans in last year’s edition. On the other hand, Malan was a part of Barisal Bulls in the previous edition of BPL but since the franchise has now been suspended, he is going to feature in the Titans team. He played 9 matches and scored 240 runs at an average of 30. He also hammered two fifties in BPL season four. Carlos Brathwaite was also signed by Barisal in BPL T20 2016, but he did not partake in any matches.

However, one of their biggest signings, Chris Lynn, will not be featuring in the coming edition due to a shoulder injury. The 2017 BPL draft will be held on 16 September 2017, where a team can purchase a minimum of 10 overseas players and a maximum of 13 local players. The franchise seems to have planned a complete overhaul not only in terms of their signings but also in terms of who coaches them, Mahela Jayawardene has replaced Stuart Law as the head coach, the latter moving to the West Indies to be the national coach.