Another Twenty20 Cricket League is coming up, this time in the cricket crazy nation of Bangladesh. Whether this tournament will be a hit or a flop, well we cannot predict but for sure, the crowds will fill up the stadiums in Bangladesh as they crave for cricket! The Bangladeshi fans have been mostly disappointed with their national team’s performance in International Cricket since their country’s inclusion as an ICC full member. But in this tournament, it will only be joy for the spectators as the local Bangladeshi players will showcase their talent in hitting the fours and sixes, and the bowlers taking wickets in the 33 Twenty20 matches of this tournament.
Well obviously the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been inspired by the BCCI’s IPL. What the Bangladesh Premier League or the BPL will do is to commercialise the sport in the country. Cricketers will get more money and at the same time with some international stars coming from abroad, the quality of the Bangladeshi Cricketers is bound to improve. The tournament will also help the Bangladeshi cricketers to perform more professionally because of the possible corporate pressures. In general, the young Bangladeshi cricketers are more suitable to the shorter version of the sport as they do not really have the ability to sustain their performances for long periods of time.
Using this tournament, Bangladesh can hope to build its players to perform on a more consistent basis atleast in the shorter version of the game that is the T20Is and the ODIs. Of course, too much of this fast food cricket does prove to be detrimental for Test Matches but may be its one step forward for Bangladesh Cricket to progress. Some of the upcoming talents in the country will get the much needed exposure as well which should help Bangladesh to strengthen its national side.
For the inaugural edition of the tournament which is titled as the ‘Destiny-Boishakhi Bangladesh Premier League’ will kick off tomorrow. Six franchises will take part in this tournament playing each other twice before the knock-outs. So that makes it 30 league matches followed up by the Semi-Finals and the Final. The six teams that are going to take part in the BPL 2012 are Barisal Burners, Chittagong Kings, Khulna Royal Bengal, Dhaka Gladiators, Duronto Rajshahi and Sylhet Royals.
Let’s take a look at all the six franchises in brief :
1. Barisal Burners : The BPL franchise representing the Barisal division in Bangladesh is the ‘Barisal Burners’. The owner of this franchise is the Alif Group Bangladesh. The Barisal Burners will be led by left-handed Shahriar Nafees who is also the Icon Player of the franchise. Sarwar Imran is the Head Coach of the Barisal Burners. The home ground for the Barisal Burners is the Shere-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.
The main players of Barisal Burners are Shahriar Nafees, Chris Gayle, Pakistan’s pacer Yasir Arafat, Brad Hodge and Shane Harwood.
Here is the full squad of Barisal Burners for the BPL 2012 : Shahriar Nafees (Captain), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Rameez Raja Jr. (Pakistan), Mominul Haque, Nazmul Hossain Opu, Brad Hodge (Australia), Ahmed Shehzad (Pakistan), Yasir Arafat (Pakistan), Suhrawadi Shuvo, Shohag Gazi, Farhad Hossain, Mithun Ali (Wicket Keeper), Phil Mustard (Wicket Keeper from England), Hameed Hasan (Afghanistan), Alauddin Babu, Al Amin, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Shane Harwood. Coach : Sarwar Imran
2. Chittagong Kings : The BPL franchise representing Chittagong division has been bought by the SQ Sports and named as ‘Chittagong Kings’. The franchise team will be led by off-spinning all-rounder Mahmudullah while dashing opener Tamim Iqbal is the Icon player. Former Bangladeshi all-rounder Khaled Mahmud is the Coach of the Chittagong Kings. The Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong will be the home ground for the Chittagong Kings.
The star attractions of the Chittagong Kings apart from Mahmudullah and Tamim Iqbal are Sri Lankan legend Muralitharan, Shoaib Malik, West Indians Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Jerome Taylor. The squad will be helped by Australians - Michael Bevan as the batting coach and Dean Jones as the Technical Director.
Here is the full squad of Chittagong Kings for the BPL 2012 : Tamim Iqbal, Kyle Coetzer (Scotland), Shamsur Rahman, Lendl Simmons (West Indies), Nasir Jamshed, Farhad Reza, Arafat Sunny, Dwayne Bravo, Mahmudullah (Captain), Shoaib Malik, Faisal Hossain, Jahurul Islam (Wicket Keeper), Enamul Haque Jr, Ziaur Rahman, Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Sanjamul Islam, Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) and Kevon Cooper (West Indies). Coach : Khaled Mahmud
3. Dhaka Gladiators : Representing the Dhaka division are going to be the Europa Group owned - Dhaka Gladiators. The Icon Player of the Dhaka Gladiatiors is former Bangladesh Captain Mohammad Ashraful while another former Bangladeshi Captain and all-rounder Mashrafe Mortaza will be its Skipper. Englishman Ian Pont will be the Coach of the Dhaka Gladiators. The home ground for the Dhaka Gladiators is the Shere-Bangla-National Stadium. Former Bangladesh Captain Habibul Bashar is going to be the Director of the Dhaka Gladiators.
Well the star players of the Dhaka Gladiators are Ashraful, Mortaza, Shahid Afridi (if available), Saeed Ajmal, Kieron Pollard, Azhar Mahmood, Imran Nazir and Rana Naved.
Here is the full squad of Dhaka Gladiators for the BPL 2012 : Mohammad Ashraful, Imran Nazir (Pakistan), Nazimuddin, Alexei Kervezee (Netherlands), Aftab Ahmed, Tanveer Haider, Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan), Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Elias Sunny, Darren Stevens (England), Dhiman Ghosh (Wicket Keeper), Anamul Haque (Wicket Keeper), Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (Pakistan), Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Nazmul Hossain and Mosharraf Hossain. Coach : Ian Pont
4. Duronto Rajshahi : Representing the Rajshahi division is going to be the Digital Auto Care owned - Duronto Rajshahi. Led by the Bangladeshi National Captain Mushfiqur Rahim, Duronto Rajshahi has a couple of star players in Abdul Razzaq and Marlon Samuels. The Captain Mushfiqur Rahim is also the Icon Player of the Franchise. The Coach of the Duronto Rajshahi is going to be former Bangladeshi Captain and Wicket Keeper Khaled Mashud.
Here is the full squad of Duronto Rajshahi for the BPL 2012 : Sean Ervine (Zimbabwe), Rizwan Cheema (Canada), Qaiser Abbas (Pakistan), Fawad Alam (Pakistan), Junaid Siddique, Ariful Haque, Mizanur Rahman, Asif Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicket Keeper), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Mohammad Sami (Pakistan), Mukhtar Ali, Syed Rasel, Soumya Sarkar and Saqlain Sajib. Coach : Khaled Mashud
5. Khulna Royal Bengal : Owned by the Orion Group, the team representing the Khulna division is named as the Khulna Royal Bengal. Bangladesh’s best player Shakib Al Hasan is the Icon Player and also the Captain of the Khulna Royal Bengal team. Former India all-rounder Robin Singh will be the Coach of the Khulna team.
The Khulna Royal Bengal boast of players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Herschelle Gibbs, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Andre Russell and Fidel Edwards.
Here is the full squad of Khulna Royal Bengal for the BPL 2012 : Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Shivnarine Chanderpau (West Indies), Maisuqur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Dwayne Smith (West Indies), Nasir Hossain, Marshal Ayub, Nazmul Hossain, Niall O'Brien (Wicket Keeper from Ireland), Saghir Hossain (Wicket Keeper), Jos Buttler (Wicket Keeper), Abdur Razzak, Andre Russell (West Indies), Dolar Mahmud, Shafiul Islam, Fidel Edwards (West Indies) and Shahadat Hossain. Coach : Robin Singh
6. Sylhet Royals : Representing the Sylhet Royals in the BPL 2012 is going to be the Walton Group Bangladesh owned ‘Sylhet Royals’. This franchise interestingly is the only team to have a non-Bangladeshi Captain! Somerset all-rounder Peter Trego will be leading the Sylhet Royals while leg-spinning all-rounder Alok Kapali will be the Icon Player. The Coach of the Sylhet Royals is former Australian cricketer Stuart Law.
The Sylhet Royals has star players like Naeem Islam, Brad Hogg, Scott Styris, Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir.
Here is the full squad of Sylhet Royals for the BPL 2012 : Alok Kapali, Imrul Kayes, Faisal Iqbal (Pakistan), Shuvagata Hom, Brad Hogg (Australia), Peter Trego (England), Naeem Islam, Nadif Chowdhury, Arafat Salahuddin, Scott Styris (New Zealand), Kamran Akmal (Wicket Keeper), Frederik Klokker (Denmark), Sohail Tanvir, Gary Keedy, Rubel Hossain, Noor Hossain, Talha Jubair and Nabil Samad. Coach : Stuart Law
