BCB announces list for BPL players' draft

Ahead of the players' draft of the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) which is scheduled to take place in September 16, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announces the list of players who are going to be a part of BPL 2017, T20 tournament .

Among the local players, Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman is the only one to have been placed in Grade A+(60,000).

There are seven foreign players in the Grade A ($70,000) category. The seven players in Grade A are Azhar Ali ( Pakistan), Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka), Gary Balance (England), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan), Misbah-Ul-Haq (Pakistan), Tim Bresnan( England) and Upul Tharanga (Sri Lanka).

There are 208 foreign players taking part in the BPL players' draft. England forms the largest contingent of foreign players with 62 players. Pakistan have 46 players and there are 26 players from Sri Lanka among the 208 players.

Cricketers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, UAE, Ireland and Afghanistan complete the rest of the list.

The foreign players are divided among six catagories, grade A to F. The A catagory players have been priced at $70,000 and the F catagory players are priced at $10,000. 

While Barisal Bulls have been removed from this edition of the BPL, Sylhet makes a return after an year's gap.

According to new regulations, a team can play between three to five foreign players. The franchises have to pick a minimum of seven loacal players and two overseas players.

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim has joined Rajshahi Kings for this edition of the BPL while the inspirational Mashrafe Bin Murtaza has signed for the Rangpur Riders.