Studded with national ODI side captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, defending champions Rangpur Riders picked Shafiul Islam and Sohag Gazi in the local players' first round. They retained Ravi Bopara and took Rilee Rossouw and West Indies fast bowler Oshane Thomas.
Former national side captain Mohammad Ashraful, , who became eligible to play all international and BPL in August 2018 after serving a five-year match-fixing-related ban, has been picked up by Chittagong Vikings alongside another national captain Mushfiqur Rahim, a Category A+ player, to play for the port city team.
Defending runner-up Khulna Titans retained local star Mahmudullah Riyad and added Lasith Malinga to their roster from category A, apart from leg spinner Yasir Shah, Afghanistan left-arm leg spinner Zahir Khan and Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor to form a balanced side.
Rajshahi opted for Soumya Sarkar as their first local pick, and used their first overseas-player quota to pick Sri Lanka's left-arm seamerIsuruUdana. They also took Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate, Sri Lanka's Seekugge Prasanna and uncapped England batsman Laurie Evans.
South Africa's Cameron Delport and Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka went to Chittagong, while Ian Bell found a place with Dhaka Dynamites. Apart from Afridi and Lewis, Comilla went for ThisaraPerera, a strong performer for Rangpur in the previous season, alongside retaining experienced TamimIqbal.
In form icon player Liton Kumar Das is in the Sylhet Sixers along-with local Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman and young all-rounder Afif Hossain.
The star-studded franchised tournament is likely to start in January 5, 2019.
Squads:
Rangpur Riders:Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, AB de Villliers, Shafiul Islam, SohagGazi, Farhad Reza, MehediMaruf, Ravi Bopara, RileeRossouw, Nahidul Islam, NadifChowdhury, AbulHasan, FardinHossain, Benny Howell and Oshane Thomas.
Chittagong Vikings:Sunzamul Islam, SikandarRaza, Luke Ronchi, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Shahzad, Robbie Frylinck, MosaddekHossain, Abu Jayed, Khaled Ahmed, NayeemHasan, Cameron Delport, DasunShanaka, Mohammad Ashraful, RobiulHaque, Yasir Ali, Nihaduzzaman, NajibullahZadran and Shadman Islam.
Khulna Titans:MahmudullahRiyad, ArifulHaque, NazmulHossainShanto, Carlos Brathwaite, Dawid Malan, Ali Khan, Jahurul Islam, Shariful Islam, Taijul Islam, Al-Amin, Zahir Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Subashis Roy, JunaidSiddique, Tanvir Islam Mahidul Islam Ankan, LasithMalinga, Yasir Shah and Brendan Taylor.
Rajshahi Kings:MominulHaque, MehidyHasanMiraz, MustafizurRahman, ZakirHasan, Qais Ahmed, ChristiaanJonker, SoumyaSarkar, Fazle Mahmud, Arafat Sunny, AlauddinBabu, IsuruUdana, Laurie Evans, Marshall Ayub, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Ryan ten Doeschate, SeekuggePrasanna and Mohammad Sami.
Dhaka Dynamites:Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, HazratullahZazai, Andre Russell, RubelHossain, NurulHasan, RonyTalukdar, ShuvagataHom, Andrew Birch, Ian Bell, QaziOnik, MizanurRahman, AsifHasan, ShahadatHossain and Naim Sheikh.
SylhetSixers:NasirHossain, SabbirRahman, Liton Kumar Das, SohailTanvir, David Warner, SandeepLamichhane, AfifHossain, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, TowhidHridoy, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Irfan, Nabil Samad, EbadatHossain, AlokKapali, Jaker Ali, GulbadinNaib, Andre Fletcher, MehediHasanRana, Pat Brown and Nicholas Pooran.
Comilla Victorians:TamimIqbal, ImrulKayes, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoaib Malik, AselaGunaratne, Liam Dawson, Abu Hider, AnamulHaque, MehediHasan, ZiaurRahman, ShahidAfridi, ThisaraPerera, MosharrafHossain, Mohammad Shahid, ShamsurRahman, SanjitSaha, Evin Lewis, WaqarSalmakhai and AmerYamin.