A total of 11 Bangladeshi cricketers have registered for the upcoming season’s draft of Australia’s T20 franchise league, the Big Bash League (BBL).
On Tuesday, Cricket Australia (CA) announced the names of 440 male and 145 female cricketers who will be part of the draft. The draft is scheduled to take place on June 19.
Among the Bangladeshi players in the draft are Mustafizur Rahman, Rishad Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Taijul Islam, and Hasan Mahmud. Among them, Mustafizur and Rishad were picked from the draft last season but couldn’t play.
One of the biggest surprises in this year’s draft is the inclusion of 42-year-old former English cricketer James Anderson, the most successful pace bowler in Test history, and former Indian pacer Siddharth Kaul.
After retiring from international cricket last summer, Anderson has returned to the shorter format through the recent T20 Blast, after 11 years. He is currently in great rhythm with the ball, having taken 10 wickets in 4 matches for Lancashire.
Also registered in this year’s draft are Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan. Meanwhile, Babar Azam has already been signed by the Sydney Sixers.
