BPL: Local retentions and direct signings confirmed

The governing council of the Bangladesh Premier League received the list of retained and directly signed local players from all seven participating franchises on Saturday, ahead of the players' draft for the 11th edition, which is scheduled to take place on Monday at a city hotel.

According to BPL and franchise officials, defending champions Fortune Barishal retained Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim and roped in Towhid Hridoy as their direct signing, while Chittagong Kings signed Shakib Al Hasan and Shoriful Islam.

Dhaka Capitals have Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Mustafizur Rahman on board, while Durbar Rajshahi -- another new franchise -- named Anamul Haque Bijoy and uncapped Jishan Alam as  direct signings.

In a surprising move, Sylhet Strikers preferred to retain Zakir Hasan and Tanzim Hasan Sakib instead of going for Mashrafe bin Mortaza, intending to include him from the draft event, while naming wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali Anik as direct signing.

Elsewhere, Rangpur Riders retained Nurul Hasan Sohan and Mahedi Hasan and directly signed Mohammad Saifuddin. And lastly, Khulna Tigers retained Afif Hossain and Nasum Ahmed, and directly signed Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

According to draft rules, the four established franchises can retain a maximum of two local players from their squad from the previous edition, while they can recruit only one local player from any category as direct signing. Meanwhile, the newly awarded three franchises can recruit two local players from any category as direct signings from the local players' draft list.