Mushfiqur Rahim was allocated to the Chittagong Vikings for the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League as the draft process kicked off on a rather peculiar note on Sunday (October 28).
The BPL governing council provided a players list on Saturday with Mushfiqur slotted in the A+ category (Tk 40 to 75 lakh) for the draft. Rajshahi Kings had previously opted against retaining the star keeper-batsman. Prior to the allocation, the Vikings were the only franchise without an A+ category player in their ranks.
Mushfiqur, Bangladesh’s most-successful T20 batsman for Bangladesh in 2018 with 390 runs in 13 matches at an average of 39, was included in the draft at a price tag of Tk 75 lak. Given his pedigree and leadership nous, every franchise attempted to snap him up in the draft.
However, the allocation saved BPL from slipping into another controversy as prior to the tournament each team was mandated to have one A+ category player. This category is the reintroduced version of ‘icon cricketers’ for the upcoming edition. Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman had been added to this category alongside Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mahmudullah Riyad.
The players’ draft programme for recruitment of local and overseas players will be held in local hotel where a total of 186 local players will be up for grabs. There will also be 365 foreign players available in the lottery-based players recruitment programme.
