BPL franchise to sign more overseas players

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is all set to commence on November 4 as the T20 extravaganza will continue for more than a month. The tournament was expected to be hardly hit due to its collision with the T20 Global League. But the fact that the South African tournament has been postponed, all the franchises are strengthening their squads by signing more overseas players ahead of the fifth edition.

The latest entrant in the league is the 37-year-old Michael Klinger from Australia who has been roped in by Khulna Titans. He will be available for the entire season and has been in good form in 2017 which should bode well for them. Titans have also signed in the likes of Chris Lynn, Kyle Abbott and Seekkuge Prasanna for this season and have bolstered by the presence of Shadab Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed and the hard-hitter Rilee Rossouw. Abbott will play in the league for the first time as he will be available for the entire duration thanks to Kolpak deal.

Brendon McCullum to make his debut in BPL

The former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum was one of the eight international marquee players for the T20 Global League. But now he will feature in BPL for the first time and will play for Rangpur Riders. He will be available for them from November 15 and will miss their first three matches. Kieron Pollard has joined Dhaka Dynamites and was the part of Dhaka Gladiators previously during their title triumph in 2012 and 2013.

England cricketer Luke Wright has been snapped in by Rajshahi Kings who blasted a hundred in the T20 Blast earlier this year. He has played before in the BPL in 2013 for Dhaka franchise but had only played three matches for them. Malcolm Waller and Lendl Simmons are also set to don the jersey for the same franchise and would look make an immediate impact for them. The Test skipper of Bangladesh and the highest run-getter of BPL across all the editions Mushfiqur Rahim has left Barisal Bulls and will now join Rajshahi Kings. This will be his fourth team and has travelled quite a lot playing for the teams like Duranta Rajshahi, Sylhet Royals and Sylhet Superstars.

Mashrafe Mortaza is also set to play for his third BPL franchise Rangpur Riders after leasing Comilla Victorians to the title in 2015. The tournament is expected to be a huge one for Bangladesh Cricket Board as the superstars from all over the world will participate in the league now.