Five Sri Lankans picked for Bangabandhu BPL T20

Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019/20

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The player draft for the Bangabandhu BPL T20 which is set to begin on the 11th of December took place yesterday (17th November) in Bangladesh.

A total of 620 players, including 439 overseas players, were registered for the draft to be picked by 7 teams, all which are owned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

The BCB has opted to host the 7th edition of the BPL in a completely different way, cutting all ties with the franchises which owned teams in the previous 6 editions, claiming that they were making “unreasonable demands”.

Out of the 33 overseas players who were eventually picked, 5 Sri Lankans were included. Two of Sri Lanka’s most promising T20 players, Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka were both picked by Comilla Warriors. Both of them are currently participating in the T10 league in Abu Dhabi.

21-year old Avishka Fernando secured his first T20 league contract as he was picked by Chattogram Challengers. The young opening batsman might also get to pair up with star batsman Chris Gayle (who was also picked by the same team), to open the batting for the Challengers. 

Former T20 captain Thisara Perera, who has also featured in previous BPL editions, was picked by Dhaka Platoon. Veteran all-rounder Jeevan Mendis also found himself picked for the league for the Sylhet Thunders.