Former Bangladesh captains Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Mahmudullah Riyad have found their homes for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season, with franchises finalizing their rosters after Monday's player draft. The 11th edition of the BPL is set to begin on December 27, featuring seven teams, including newcomer Durbar Rajshahi. All teams secured players through direct signings or retention before completing their squads in the draft. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza rejoins Sylhet Strikers, where he played last season. His participation was initially uncertain as he wasn't retained, but the Strikers ultimately brought him back. Mahmudullah Riyad, another former national captain who recently retired from T20Is, returns to defending champions Fortune Barishal. Pre-Draft Signings: Who’s joining each BPL team for 2025? Teams previously announced their direct signings and retained players. The draft also saw dozens of international players join BPL teams alongside local stars. This year's tournament will feature big names like Moeen Ali, Thisara Perera, Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Johnson Charles, and Alex Hales. Teams after the draft: Dhaka Capitals: Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzid Hasan Tamim (direct signing), (Foreign direct signings) Thisara Perera, Johnson Charles, Amir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani, Stephen Eskinazi, (from the draft), Litton Kumar Das, Habibur Rahman, Mukidul Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Saim Ayub, Amir Hamza Hotak, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahriar, Asif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mushfiq Hasan. Chittagong Kings: (Direct signings) Shakib Al Hasan, Shoriful Islam, (Foreign direct signings) Moeen Ali, Usman Khan, Haider Ali, Angelo Mathews, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Binura Fernando, (From the draft) Shamim Hossain Patwary, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Aliss Al Islam, Graham Clark, Thomas O'Connell, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahat-ul-Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Parvez Rahman, Marshall Ayub. Durbar Rajshahi: (Direct signing) Anamul Haque, (From the draft) Taskin Ahmed, Zisan Alam, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Sabbir Hossain, Saad Nasim, Lahiru Samarakoon, Sanjamul Islam, SM Meherob Hasan, Akbar Ali, Hasan Murad, Shafiul Islam, Mohr Sheikh. Fortune Barishal: (Direct signing) Towhid Hridoy. (Retained) Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, (Foreign direct signings) Kyle Mayers, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Faheem Ashraf, Ali Mohammad, Jahandad Khan, (From the draft) Mahmudullah Riyad, Tanvir Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ripon Mondol, James Fuller, Pathum Nissanka, Ebadot Hossain, Naeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Nandre Burger, Shahidul Islam, Ariful Islam. BCB announced squad for Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman Sylhet Strikers: (Direct signing) Jaker Ali Anik, (Retained) Tanzim Hasan, Zakir Hasan, (Foreign direct signings) Paul Stirling, George Munsey, (From the draft) Rony Talukdar, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Rahkeem Cornwall, Samiullah Shenwari, Ruyel Miah, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam, Reece Topley. Khulna Tigers: (Direct signing) Mehidy Hasan Miraz, (Retained) Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, (Foreign direct signing), Oshane Thomas, (From the draft) Hasan Mahmud, Naeem Sheikh, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Mohammad Hasnain, Lewis Gregory, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabbi, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mohammad Nawaz. Rangpur Riders: (Direct signing) Mohammad Saifuddin, (Retained) Nurul Hasan Sohan, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan, (Foreign direct signings) Alex Hales, Khushdil Shah, Allah Ghazanfar, Steven Taylor, Saurabh Netravalkar, (From the draft) Nahid Rana, Saif Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Akif Javed, Curtis Campher, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Shukkur, Kamrul Islam, Toufiq Khan Tushar. BFF Election: Tabith Awal emerging as frontrunner to replace Salahuddin

Bangladesh lost the toss and were sent in to bowl first in the third and final T20I of their three-match series against India, which was also the farewell of Mahmudullah Riyad’s from the format. With the series already lost after defeats in the first two games, Bangladesh heads into this match hoping to end on a high note. Mahmudullah waves goodbye to T20Is The team made two changes to their lineup from the previous match. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Jaker Ali were rested, allowing Tanzid Hasan and Mahedi Hasan to step in. Ahead of the game, the Bangladesh team presented Mahmudullah with a commemorative crest, thanking him for his years of service to the national team. 3rd T20I: Bangladesh take on India Saturday, aiming for consolation win Mahmudullah, who debuted in T20Is back in 2007 in Kenya, will be playing his 141st match in the format today.

Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad said he is hoping that the spinners would do better on the wicket of Providence Stadium in Guyana. Bangladesh will take on the hosts West Indies in the third T20I on Thursday night aiming to level up the series.  The first match of the series was washed away due to heavy rain. The hosts won the second match by 35 runs and they are leading by 1-0 in the series. Now, Bangladesh has only one way to level the series— to win the final match.  Also read: BAN vs WI 3rd T20I 2022: Bangladesh seek to level the series “Spinners can do well on this wicket,” Mahmudullah said before the match. “I’ve previously played ODI here and saw that the wicket of this venue is traditionally dry which is helpful for the spinners.” But the Bangladesh team is yet to decide how the team will look. “Still, we have to think about many things. The condition might change if it rains here on the match day. We will decide about our playing XI later,” Mahmudullah added.  If the condition remains dry, Bangladesh might bring Nasum Ahmed, the left-arm spinner, back to the playing XI.  Also read: WI vs BAN Series 2022: 7 attainable personal milestones for Bangladeshi cricketers Before the T20I series, Bangladesh played a two-match Test series against the West Indies and lost both matches. After the T20I series, Bangladesh will take on the hosts in a three-match ODI series starting from July 10. The other matches will be played on July 13 and 16. 

Minister Group Dhaka finally won a match in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Monday beating Fortune Barishal by four wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  Mahmudullah Riyad and Andre Russell led the way to their maiden victory coming into the third match.  In the first two matches, Dhaka lost to Khulna Tigers and Chattogram Challengers by five wickets and 30 runs respectively.  On Monday, Shakib Al Hasan-led Barishal batted first and put up 129 on the board losing eight wickets in 20 overs.  Chris Gayle, the West Indian T20 giant, who was playing his first match in this season of BPL, scored the highest 36 for them while Dwayne Bravo posted 33.  For Dhaka, Russell and Isuru Udana bagged two wickets each.  In reply to a moderate total, Dhaka suffered a heavy batting collapse at the start of their innings. 

Bangladesh T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad said he will look for a pace-bowling all-rounder and a wrist spinner for the national team during during the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premeir League (BPL). Mahmudullah is set to lead Minister Group Dhaka in BPL beginning on Friday in Dhaka. Read: Bangabandhu BPL begins on Friday sans spectators Along with Mahmudullah, Dhaka have Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal as well. Tamim is set to play from the beginning, but Mashrafe is uncertain for the first two matches. “We will play another World Cup this year,” Mahmudullah said referring to T20 World Cup 2022 which will be played in Australia. “We may need more pace-bowling all-rounders and wrist spinners. We will keep it in mind in BPL.” Bangladesh failed to impress in the last edition of the T20 World Cup that took place in the UAE last year. But Mahmdullah believes the Tigers have a good chance to do well in the next World Cup in Australia. Read: Shakib, Mushfiq, Mustafiz make way into ICC Men’s ODI team 2021 “We had expected to do well in the last World Cup. Our confidence was high after winning two consecutive series against Australia and New Zealand. But we could perform accordingly. We have a good chance to do well in the next World Cup,” Mahmudullah added.

Dhaka, Dec 29 (UNB) — The year started on a hopeful note for Bangladesh as Shakib Al Hasan had returned to international cricket early this year after serving a ban imposed by the ICC for failing to report corrupt approaches by a known bookie. But by the time it ended, supporters of the Tigers were hoping they could forget 2021 as soon as possible. Shakib was the most valuable player immediately upon his return, in the ODI series against the West Indies early this year. It was not the right indicator of what was in store for the remainder of the year. The downhill slide began in the Test series that followed the ODIs against the men from the Caribbean, who were severely depleted yet totally outplayed Bangladesh in both matches on the way to winning 2-0. Bangladesh won 20 international matches across all three formats this year, out of 46 played. Although that makes it their second-best year in terms of matches won, this does not reflect the suffering that Bangladesh went through playing at home or abroad in 2021, and across all three formats really. The poor show in Tests continued all through the year. At the end of the year, the Mominul Haque-led team suffered another 2-0 series defeat at home, this time against Pakistan.

Despite coming close, or so they thought, to beating Pakistan in the last of the three-T20I series, Bangladesh failed to make it on Monday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad said it was somewhat heartbreaking for the team who wanted to win at least one match so badly so that the confidence of the team was boosted. “We were so close but we, unfortunately, couldn’t make it. So it was somewhat heartbreaking,” Mahumudullah said after the match, which was Bangladesh's eighth T20I defeat in a row.  Mahmudullah bowled Mohammad Nawaz in the ball which was supposed to be the last ball of the match and when Pakistan needed two runs. But at the last moment, Nawaz moved away, and the umpire called it a dead ball.  READ: Mahmudullah has few answers as Tigers’ rut continues “He moved away at the last moment, so I asked the umpire if the ball was legal. The umpire's call was final and we respect it,” Mahmudullah added on the incident. “It would have been better if we could win one or two matches. Wins help to boost the confidence of the team. The dressing room environment was so great during the Australia and New Zealand series ahead of the World Cup. The boys put their best foot forward, but unfortunately, we have failed,” Mahmudullah also said.  READ: Mahmudullah blames top-order batting after defeat to Pakistan Both teams will now head to the Port City of Chattogram to play the first match of the two-Test series from November 26. After that, both teams will return to Dhaka to play the second Test from December 4. 

Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad was left singing the same old tune of a top order batting failure, a running feature of the seemingly endless run of disappointing results that the team is on, after their second defeat in two days against Pakistan in Mirpur, handing the 3-match series to the tourists. On Saturday, Bangladesh endured defeat by eight wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. And after the match, Mahmudullah said it was their batting that failed them once again. It was Bangladesh’s seventh consecutive T20I defeat, going back to the start of the Super-12s phase in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.   In these seven matches, Bangladesh with the bat managed totals of: 171/4, 124/9, 139/5, 84, 73, 127/7 and 108/7.  Read: Pakistan wrap up series beating Bangladesh by eight wickets “I think we started off quite well today. Afif (Hossain) and (Najmul Hossain) Shanto batted really well in the middle. I and Shanto were trying to get a partnership but we couldn't capitalise on the end overs,” Mahmudullah said after the match. “For a team like us, we need a set batter to be there at the end, but it didn't happen today.”   Like most days, these days, he could have said. With the 84 against South Africa in the World Cup, Bangladesh became the first ICC full-member side to be bowled out for under 100 thrice in a calendar year. In the next game against Australia, they extended this dubious record with a fourth sub-100 total in 2021.   Read: Independence Cup football likely to begin Nov 27 Riyad was left flummoxed by a question regarding the team’s catching ability, after the team dropped two more easy catches today, continuing another trend from the World Cup of missing regulation catches. “Boys are putting a lot of effort into the catching during practice but unfortunately, we're missing out on chances (during the game),” he said, very keen to put across that the team is catching everything in practice sessions, without all the pressure of an international fixture.   In the end, clutching at straws for positives, the hapless skipper was left only with a defensive bowling performance on the day that supposedly prevented Pakistan from blowing their small target away. But truth be told, they never needed to.     “The bowling unit has been outstanding over the last six months, whether it is the pace or spin. It's the batting unit that has to come up with the goods,” he added. ‘Outstanding’ might be stretching it a bit. But if it can shame his batsmen into getting some runs on the board that bowlers can play with, its use may just be pardoned. The third and final T20I of the series will take place on November 22 at the same venue. After the T20I series, the teams will compete in a two-match Test series.

Mahmudullah Riyad is not playing the first warm-up match of the Bangladesh national team ahead of the T20 World Cup which is set to begin on October 17 in Oman. Bangladesh is set to take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, at Bangladesh time 8pm at Abu Dhabi. Habibul Bashar, the selector of Bangladesh, said the T20 captain has been suffering from slight back pain for a couple of days. So as a precautionary step, he is not playing the first warm-up match. “He won’t get enough time to rest during the tournament when we have  match after match. So we are not taking any risk now. He will not play the warm-up match. We will give him a bit of time,” Bashar told the media. Read: BAN vs. NZ Series 2021: Mahmudullah Becomes Bangladesh’s Most Successful T20I Captain Mahmudullah, however, might take part in the second warm-up match against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. While Mahmudulla is not playing the first warm-up match, Mustafizur Rahman might take part in it. The left-handed pacer joined the team after completing this IPL stint for Rajasthan Royals. The Bangladesh team will return to Oman on October 15 before their first World Cup against Scotland. They will then face the hosts, Oman, and Papua New Guinea. It is expected that the Tigers would end up as the champions of Group B. If they can successfully play in Round 1, they will meet India, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Afghanistan in Group 2 at the Super 12s round along with the runners up of Group A of Round 1. Read: Mahmudullah's Best Test Innings For Bangladesh BCB had announced the squad for the World Cup early last month. They had included Rubel Hossain and Aminul Islam as the standby players. But in a recent move, the team management excluded Aminul from the touring party but kept Rubel with the team. Bangladesh also included six players in the squad who has no experience of playing in a World Cup, including U-19 World Cup-winning stars— Shoriful Islam and Shamim Hossain.

Bangladesh need to score 129 to wrap up the five-match T20I series against New Zealand with two matches to play. In the third match on Sunday, New Zealand batted first and posted 128 for 5 in 20 overs.  Henry Nicholls scored 36— the highest by any New Zealand batsman, while Tom Blundell scored 30. Both of them were unbeaten adding 66 runs in the sixth wicket stand.  Read:New Zealand opt to bat first against Bangladesh in 3rd T20I New Zealand failed to secure a good opening stand once again as they posted 16 on the first wicket. Mustafizur Rahman, made the first breakthrough for the Tigers removing Finn Allen for 15.  Allen was playing his first match in this series. He was tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the series. He has recently returned negative in two Covid-19 tests and joined the New Zealand team.  For Bangladesh, Mohammad Saifuddin bagged two wickets conceding 28 runs in four overs while Mahedi Hasan, Mustafiz, and Mahmudullah Riyad took one wicket each.  It was the 100th T20I for Mahmudullah. He became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to have played 100 T20Is.  The hosts fielded an unchanged playing XI, while the visitors made three changes.  They overlooked Hamish Bennett, Ben Sears and Doug Bracewell to pave the way for Finn Allen, Scott Kuggeleijn, Jacob Duffy.  Read:Tigers eye to seal series against Kiwis on Sunday Bangladesh XI: Liton Das, Mohammad Naim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah Riayad, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Tom Latham(w/c), Colin de Grandhomme, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Cole McConchie, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ajaz Patel, Jacob Duffy