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

Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza MP, the lawmaker from Narail-2, has become Youth and Sports Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League. The decision was made at the party presidium meeting held at Ganobhaban on Monday night. Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader confirmed it after the meeting. Mashrafe, popularly known as the 'Narail Express', earned a landslide victory in his local area Narail-2 constituency in the 11th national election. Read more: No scope for Mashrafe to return, hints BCB chief

Bangladesh former captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza skipped a surgery on his leg which his doctors said needed to continue his playing career. His doctors said the bowler still can play consuming painkillers, but if he wants a long career, he must go under the knife of doctors. Read: Shakib Al Hasan in for South Africa tour The right-arm pacer said the surgery now will keep him away from cricket for at least nine months and might end his career for good. So to keep the dream of playing cricket alive, he decided to skip it. As he has no plan to continue playing after this year, as some sources close to him suggested, Mashrafe might not need the eighth surgery on his leg. “I have discussed my doctors for the last three days and decided to skip the eighth surgery on my leg,” the lawmaker wrote on his social media profile. “I may get back to it in future. For now, I have to start a rehabilitation programme. Only Allah knows where is the end of all these. For now, the cricket field is calling me for DPL.” Mashrafe will represent the Legends of Rupganjs in this season of Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League which is commonly known as DPL or Dhaka League. Read: SA vs BAN ODI Series 2022: SWOT Analysis of Bangladesh Squad The 38-year-old pacer has played his last international match back in 2020. It is understood that the pacer has little chance to resume his international career. He was given a chance by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to end his career against Zimbabwe at home, but the pacer has declined to retire being forced by the board.  

 Masrhafe Bin Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain, made a comeback to competitive cricket after more than a year, but his return was not an occasion of joy for him as his team Minister Group Dhaka lost the match by seven wickets to Sylhet Sunrisers on Tuesday.  It was the third defeat for Dhaka in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in four matches they have played so far. Sylhet Sunrisers, on the other hand, played two matches and they now have a win and a defeat.  Sylhet won the toss and sent Dhaka to bat first who failed to start it well as they lost early wickets. Tamim Iqbal failed to impress as he returned only three runs while the other opener Mohammad Shahzad only posted five runs.  Mohammad Naim came at number three and played 30 balls to score only 15 runs. Captain Mahmudullah Riyad was the highest scorer for them scoring 33.  Dhaka tumbled only for 100 for all wickets in 18.4 overs.  Read: Shakib Reaches 400 T20 Wickets Milestone in BPL 2022: Stats Breakdown For Sylhet, left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam bagged four wickets conceding 18 runs in four overs while Taskin Ahmed scalped three wickets and Sohag Gazi toon two.  In reply, Anamul Haque Bijoy scored 45 off 45 balls with four fours and one six to guide Sylhet to their maiden win. Colin Ingram remained unbeaten for 21 for them. They ended up on 101 for three in 17 overs.  Mashrafe took two wickets for Dhaka conceding 21 runs in four overs. It was Masrafe’s first match in more than 400 days. Before this match, he played a competitive cricket match back in 2020.  Nazmul won the player of the match award for his four-wicket haul.  These two teams will take on each other in their next match on January 28 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza started practice at Mirpur Thursday ahead of the 50-over edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) amid uncertainty about participation. The 38-year-old pacer played his last competitive cricket match back in December, 2020. He had been out of cricket since due to his political commitments as a member of Bangladesh parliament. “Just bowled a few deliveries with a short run-up,” Mashrafe told the media, adding that he has been undergoing a rehabilitation programme. “I have been suffering from a bit of back pain. It will take a little time to get rid of it. But I started slowly.” Also read: BCL Final: Mithun hits maiden double ton Mashrafe hoped he can start bowling with full run-up by next week. The veteran bowler will represent Dhaka team in the upcoming edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) starting from January 21. The former captain praised the Test team for their historic win over New Zealand this week. Masrahfe rated it as the biggest win of Bangladesh in cricket so far. “I don’t like to say it's ‘one of the best wins’, it’s actually the best win to me,” he said. “New Zealand are the champions of the Test. We don’t have our best players in this series. If you keep these things in mind, it was our best win ever.” Also read: BCL Cricket: Central Zone require 192 runs against South Zone on final day According to Masrhafe, Bangladesh’s pace-bowling unit is flourishing slowly in every format of the game. He said what Ebadot Hossain has done in the first Test against New Zealand was a result of his long struggle. “If you see our T20Is stats, our pacers have done well there. Test was the format where our pacers struggled for a long time unlike T20Is and ODIs. We have to work harder for that. If you look at Taskin (Ahmed), he has started doing well. Ebadot already displayed what he is capable of. And Rahi (Abu Jayed) has been doing well too. We have to believe them more, and it will eventually help them to become even more effective in Tests.” After winning the first Test by a big margin of eight wickets, which was Bangladesh’s maiden Test win over New Zealand and first by any Asian Team in New Zealand after 2013, Bangladesh are now gearing up for the second Test which will begin in Christchurch on January 9.

To promote sports in Narail district, the IPDC Finance Ltd signed an agreement with Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s Narail Express Foundation (NEF) at IPDC Head Office in Gulshan. The private sector NBFI has come forward to ensure all kinds of support to NEF in order to maintain the standard of the sports training facility since 2018. Last year, IPDC helped the Foundation build a gymnasium in Narail, the inauguration of which is to take place by the end of the year. Under the new agreement, IPDC Finance has committed to extend its support for NEF's vision of providing sports training in the district for the next five years. Read: Play with the right ball to become cricketers: Mashrafe NEF Founding Chairman and the former captain of Bangladesh national cricket team, Mashrafe said: “I had only dreamt of changing the landscape of Narail in terms of education, health, ICT, culture, and sports through NEF. My heartfelt gratitude to IPDC Finance for coming forward in raising the bar that will inspire others to pick talented players across the country.” IPDC Manager Director and CEO, Mominul Islam said, "IPDC, with its focus on youth and the underserved, has always strived to create groundbreaking opportunities for them. We are pleased to have a credible platform led by the captain himself in this journey." Read: IPDC Finance Ltd wins Intellectual Property Protection Award 2021 The sports academy currently trains 60 cricket, football, and volleyball players between the age of 16-18 years. The group is being trained to introduce strong international players in the future, besides supporting their education, accommodation, and health care. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and IPDC Finance Managing Director and CEO Mominul Islam signed the partnership agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. Other high officials were also present at the signing ceremony.

Former Bangladesh national team captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has advised youngsters to practice with the right kind of ball if they want to become cricketers.

Bangladesh national cricket team is all set to start gearing up from next week for the home series against West Indies, which will begin with three-match ODI competition. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who has never officially retired from the national side, will not be in the reckoning for a place in the side in this series, BCB president Nazmul Hassan recently hinted.

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza resumed cricketing activities after a long gap of nine months. He participated in an individual training programme on Tuesday at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Academy Ground.

Former Bangladesh captain Masrhafe Bin Mortaza, who tested positive for coronavirus a week ago, is doing well and not suffering from any health complications, his family said.