Teams for BCL set after players' draft

The draft of the upcoming eighth edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) has been completed.

The tournament will kick off on January 31, 2020, and is set to end on February 24. 

Four teams will compete in the four-day match tournament and the teams are - BCB South Zone, Islami Bank East Zone, Walton Central Zone and BCB North Zone. 

The big changes were Mahmudullah Riyad, Mustafizur Rahman and Liton Das joining the South Zone, Central Zone and North Zone respectively.

Each team had the option to retain six players and stalwarts like Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque and Abdur Razzak were all retained. 

South Zone retained six players in Abdur Razzak, Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Shafiul Islam. Imrul Kayes, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Afif Hossain, Mominul Haque, Nayeem Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were retained by the East Zone side. 

Central Zone kept Saif Hassan, Shuvagata Hom, Taibur Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Arafat Sunny and Shohidul Islam whereas Ariful Haque, Naeem Islam, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sunzamul Islam and Ebadat Hossain were retained by North Zone. 

Youngsters like Hasan Mahmud, under-19 skipper Akbar Ali, Ruyel Miah and Mukidul Islam Mugdho also got into the sides along with veterans like Enamul Haque Jr, Sohrawardi Shuvo and Shahriar Nafees.  

National team players are set to miss out on a big chunk of the tournament as Bangladesh have their first Test against Pakistan away in early February and also will face Zimbabwe at home in the same month. 

The tournament will be played in a round-robin format in the group stage before the top two teams will battle it out in the final.

South Zone are the defending champions of the tournament. 

The matches will be played in four venues across the country which are the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram and the two stadiums in Cox's Bazar. 

Teams 

BCB South Zone: Abdur Razzak, Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Mahedi Hasan, Quazi Nurul Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Mahmudullah Riyad, Fazle Mahmud, Farhad Reza, Shamsur Rahman, Md Al-Amin, Nasum Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Shahriar Nafees, Robiul Haque, Irfan Shukkur, Aminul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Ruyel Miah

Islami Bank East Zone: Imrul Kayes, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Afif Hossain, Mominul Haque, Nayeem Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Pinak Ghosh, Hasan Mahmud, Zakir Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Amite Hasan, Rejaur Rahman, Tanvir Islam, Imran Uzzaman, Khaled Ahmed, Rony Chowdhury, Mohammad Ashraful

Walton Central Zone: Saif Hassan, Shuvagata Hom, Taibur Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Arafat Sunny, Shohidul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman, Raqibul Hasan, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Jaker Ali Anik, Nazmul Islam, Naim Sheikh, Abdul Mazid, Irfan Hossain, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Shoriful Islam, Akbar Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz

BCB North Zone: Ariful Haque, Naeem Islam, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sunzamul Islam, Ebadat Hossain, Rony Talukder, Sumon Khan, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Rishad Hossain, Sanjit Saha, Salauddin Sakil, Jahurul Islam, Tanbir Haider, Enamul Haque Jr, Mizanur Rahman, Hossain Ali, Muktar Ali