Gemcon Khulna got lucky to confirm the services of two players of Grade A, when they recruited ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad through a lottery system in the players’ draft of the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 Cup at a local hotel in the city on Thursday.
Beximco Dhaka and Minister Group Rajshahi paved Khulna a way to rope in the two high quality all-rounders by not calling them up at the first chance.
Beximco Dhaka rather acquired the services of Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim after getting the first chance to call.
Khulna got the second call and duly grabbed Shakib, who will return to competitive cricket with the tournament after serving a ban imposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to his failure to report corrupt approaches from the bookies.
Fortune Barishal then secured the services of Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal in the following bids.
Here, let's take a look at the squads of all five teams:
Minister Group Rajshahi: Mohammad Saifuddin, Mahadi Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Farhad Reza, Mohammad Ashraful, Arafat Sunny, Ebadot Hossain, Fazle Rabbi, Rony Talukdar, Anisul Emon, Rezaur Rahman, Jaker Ali Anik, Rakibul Hasan (Senior), Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Sunazmul Islam.
Gemcon Khulna: Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Imrul Kayes, Hasan Mahmud, Al-Amin Hossain (senior), Anamul Haque Bijoy, Shamim Patwari, Ariful Haque, Shafiul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shahidul islam, Rishad Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Islam Apu, Salman Hossain, Jahirul Islam.
Beximco Dhaka: Mushfiqur Rahim, Rubel Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Nasum Ahmed, Naim Sheikh, Nayeem Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Akbar Ali, Yeasir Ali Rabbi, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Muktar Ali, Shafiqul Islam, Abu Haider Rony, Pinak Ghosh, Robiul Islam Robi.
Fortune Barishal: Tamim Iqbal, Afif Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Irfan Shukkur, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Abu Jayed Rahi, Towhid Ridoy, Tanvir Islam, Sumon Khan, Saif Hassan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mahidul Ankan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Abu Syem, Sohrawardi Shuvo.
Gazi Group Chattogram: Mustafizur Rahman, Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Shoriful Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Nahidul Islam, Shykat Ali, Mominul Haque, Rakibul Hasan (Junior), Sanjit Saha, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mehadi Hasan.
Gazi Group got the opportunity to call in fourth chance and roped in fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, another Grade A player.
Minister Group Rajshahi however sprung a surprise by not calling Bangladesh T20 skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, the other Grade A player who was available till then. They instead confirmed the services of Mohammad Saifuddin from Grade B.
A total of 157 players were put in four categories, A, B, C and D, according to their price range and each team can pick the maximum of one player from category A, four players from B, five from C and six from D to complete their team.
Shakib Al Hasan is in Grade A along with Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal and Mustafizur Rahman with the price tag of BDT 15 lakhs respectively.
In Grade B, 21 cricketers are slotted with a price tag of BDT 10 lakhs. 23 cricketers were put in Category C with price tag of BDT 6 lakhs while 108 cricketers were in Grade D with BDT 4 lakhs.
