BPL Draft: Taskin Ahmed joins Rajshahi, Mahmudullah selected by Barishal

Taskin Ahmed was the standout first pick in this year's BPL draft, snatched up by the new franchise Durbar Rajshahi. The 29-year-old fast bowler is sure to bring some serious firepower to their lineup. Meanwhile, defending champions Fortune Barishal made a strategic move by selecting Mahmudullah with the seventh overall pick. The experienced all-rounder, who recently retired from T20Is, will no doubt be a key player for their 2024-25 campaign as they look to defend their title. The team also chose to retain several core members from last season's successful squad.

Like Taskin, fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana were also first round picks, for Khulna Tigers and Rangpur Riders respectively. Litton Das (Dhaka Capitals), Shamim Hossain (Chittagong Kings) and Rony Talukdar (Sylhet Strikers) rounded off the first round. There was however no takers for Category A players legspinner Rishad Hossain and Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh's current T20I captain and the top scorer from 2023 season.

Barishal would later pick both Shanto and Rishad with the 15th and 43rd overall picks for local cricketers. Shanto hasn't been in great form off late, while many believed that Rishad's availability is slightly unclear as the Hobart Hurricane picked him for this season's BBL.

Sylhet took Mashrafe Mortaza, who appeared for the same franchise for the past two seasons. Sylhet had retained Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan, Paul Stirling and George Munsey, while directly signing Jaker Ali. Among those they picked in the draft were Reece Topley, Rahkeem Cornwall and Samiullah Shenwari.

Defending champions Barishal retained Tamim Iqbal, the player-of-the-tournament last season, and Mushfiqur Rahim. They directly signed Towhid Hridoy, Dawid Malan, Kyle Mayers, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Ali and Jahandad Khan. They also took Pathum Nissanka from the draft although the Sri Lankan batter is available partially during the BPL.

Pakistani cricketers Saim Ayub (Dhaka Capitals), Akif Javed (Rangpur Riders) and Mohammad Hasnain (Khulna Tigers) were the first three overseas picks, followed by James Fuller (Barishal) and Graham Clark (Chittagong).

Among the uncapped Bangladeshi players, Nahid Rana (Rangpur), Habibur Rahman Sohan (Dhaka) and Jishan Alam (Rajshahi) were the early picks.

The BPL teams can continue to sign players directly till the scheduled tournament start date of December 27. Barishal, Khulna, Sylhet and Rangpur are the existing franchises while Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi are new in this season.