Keeping in line with the Indian Premier League, many of its neighboring countries are planning to start a tournament on the same lines. Pakistan and Bangladesh are already finalizing plans to start such a tournament. The various franchises in the Bangladesh Premier League have already recruited players for their respective teams.

Each player is placed in one of three categories. Players in group A have a base price of $45,000; those of group B have a base price of $30,000 while players in group C have a base price of $20,000. Among the players in group A are Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Junaid Siddiqui and Nasir Hosain. There are only six cricketers in the top group, and each one has been very successful. Abdur Razzak is the country’s highest wicket-taker in the one day format of the game.

Most of the franchises are looking at previous captains to be selectors for their sides, but the franchise based in Sylhet has already made it clear that it’s looking at Wasim Akram to be the coach for the side. Other than Akram, they also have many other high profile twenty20 players in their sights. One of the franchise’s top officials, Uday Hakim told the press that they are considering recruiting players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralidharan. From the local bunch, they are looking to select young all-rounders who can contribute a lot to the team. Other franchises like the Rajshahi franchise have enlisted the help of former opener Athar Ali Khan and former captain Faroque Ahmed to be part of the team’s strategic planning committee. The franchise based in the capital, Dhaka, has sought the services of Habibul Bashar, current national selector and former national captain.

What remains to be seen is how the local tournament affects the national players, for good or bad.