The second edition of the lucrative Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)-2013 will host 45 matches slated for January 18 to February 19 in three different venues in Dhaka, Khulna and Chittagong with the opening ceremony on Jan 17 in Dhaka to mark the month-long travesty, reports UNB.
In the first match of the Prime Bank BPL on Jan 18 (Friday), holders Dhaka Gladiators will take on Khulna Royal Bengals in a day match beginning at 2:00 pm while on the same day last year's runners-up Barisal Burners will face Sylhet Royals in the evening at 6:00 pm at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in the city.
The first phase of the competition will slot in six encounters with two matches to be held everyday -- one in Day and one in Night -- in Dhaka.
After first six matches, which will be played in Dhaka, next eight matches will be held in Khulna's Sheikh Abu Nasser Stadium, then next 10 matches in Chittagong's MA Aziz Stadium and the remaining 27 matches, including the semifinals and final, back in the city.
Though the fans in the northern regions may be disappointed as once again the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra has been overlooked as a venue to stage high-profile matches, the 34-day extravaganza is set to create an excitement having the world class foreign players in seven teams including the new comer seventh franchise Rangpur Riders.
Earlier, the BPL Governing Council fixed an expenditure limit of $1.5 million for the franchises this year's edition. No franchise can have more than 10 foreign players while only five of them will be eligible to play in a particular match.
Like the inaugural tournament, local and foreign cricketers have been separated in terms of bidding prices.
Players list:
Dhaka Gladiators: Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Luke Wright (England), Owais Shah (England), T Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh), Anamul Haque Bijoy (Bangladesh), Mashrafe Bin Morrtaza (Bangladesh) Joshua Cobb (England), Chris Liddle (England), Darren Stevens (England), Mosharraf Hossain (Bangladesh), Rokibul Hasan (Bangladesh), Soumya Sarkar (Bangladesh), Liton Das (Bangladesh),Mahbubul Alam (Bangladesh) and Saqlain Sajib (Bangladesh).
Barisal Burners: Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Brad Hodge (Australia), Azhar Mahmood (England), Umar Gul (Pakistan), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan), Phil Mustard (England), Alok Kapali (Bangladesh), Elias Sunny (Bangladesh), Shuvagata Hom (Bangladesh), Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh), Alauddin Babu (Bangladesh), Iftekhar Naim Ahmed (Bangladesh) Jubair Ahmed (Bangladesh), Kabir Ali (England), Al Amin (Bangladesh) and Nazmul Apu (Bangladesh).
Chittagong Kings: Imran Nazir (Pakistan), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Mahmudullah (Bangladesh), Wahab Riaz (Pakistan), Ravi Bopara (England), Ryan Ten Doeschate (Netherlands), Jacob Oram (New Zealand) , Jason Roy (England), Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe), Naeem Islam (Bangladesh), Rubel Hossain (Bangladesh), Arafat Sunny, Enamul Haque Jr, Aftab Ahmed, Marshal Ayub and Kazi Nurul Hasan (Bangladesh).
Sylhet Royals: Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), Tino Best ( West Indies), Andre Russel (West Indies), Shohag Gazi (Bangladesh), Azeem Ghuman (Bangladesh), Zulfiqur Baber (Bangladesh), Hailton Masakadza (Zimbabwe), Mominul Haque (Bangladesh), Nazmul Hossain (Bangladesh) Babar Azam (Pakistan), Sohrawardi Shuvo (Bangladesh) and Paul Stirling (Ireland).
Rangpur Riders: Fidel Edwards (West Indies), Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh), Kevin O Brian (Ireland), Junaed Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Sharjil Khan, Anwar Ali, Mehedi Mahruf, Shamsur Rahman (Bangladesh), Raja Ali Dar (Pakistan), Taposh Ghosh, Dhiman Ghosh and Md Sharif (Bangladesh).
Duranta Rajshahi: Marlon Samuels (WI), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan), Mohammad Sami (Pakistan), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Shahzaib Hassan (Pakistan), Alex Hales (England), Jaharul Islam, Abul Hassan, Farhad Hossain (Bangladesh), Moktar Ali (Pakistan), Khalid Latif (Pakistan), Taijul Islam (Bangladesh) , Sean Ervine (Zimbabwe) and Shaker Ahmed (Bangladesh).
Khulna Royal Bengals: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), Umar Akmal (Pakistan), Awais Zia (Pakistan), Umar Amin (Pakistan), Ahmed Shahzad (Pakistan), Nazimuddin (Bangladesh), Shahriar Nafees (Bangladesh), Farhad Reza (Bangladesh), Shahadat Hossain (Bangladesh), Mizanur Rahman (Bangladesh), Md Mithun (Bangladesh), Ricky Wessels, Shane Harwood (Australia) and Sanjamul Islam (Bangladesh).
