Ending all speculation, country's two big names Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza finally got picked up by Dhaka, a franchise owned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) itself, for the eighth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Rupa Fabrics Ltd & Marn Steel Ltd (Consortium) got the ownership of Dhaka Division but they had to be left out at the eleventh hour for failing to meet the requirements of the BCB.
BPL governing council secretary IH Mallick said Dhaka will be run by BCB for the time being and later they will decide whether they would take sponsor or ownership for the team.
While ownership issue unfolded a last moment drama, the big surprising factor was two stalwarts -- Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza -- who were surprisingly not picked up by any franchisees as direct signing ahead of the Player Draft.
As per the rules set by BPL Governing Council, each team was able to recruit one local player and three foreign players through direct signing and Dhaka had already picked up Bangladesh T20 skipper Mahmudullah while Shakib Al Hasan was roped in by Barishal and Mushfiqur Rahim was signed by Khulna.
Mustafizur Rahman has already signed for Cumilla and Chattogram confirmed Nasum Ahmed while Sylhet confirmed the service of Taskin Ahmed.
Ahead of the Player Draft today at a local hotel in the city the big talking point was whether the veteran duo would get any team.
Tamim Iqbal was called up in the first round but the team Cumilla Victorians who won the lottery to call the first players, didn't take Tamim Iqbal. They rather chose to call Liton Das. It created a tension for a while but Dhaka who got the second call quelled all nerve-wrecking moment, recruiting Tamim Iqbal. Sylhet Sunrisers was the third team to take their player and they chose Mosaddek Hossain Saikat. Khulna Tigers chose Mahedi Hasan and the last team in the first round Chattogram Challengers picked up pacer Shoriful Islam.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who won four BPL trophies with two different teams, then was ignored in the second round too. The most successful captain of the country got the team in the third round when Dhaka roped in him.
With three big names in the rank, Dhaka formed a formidable team but question is whether these three senior players, two of whom had already crossed 35, could step ahead with the pace of T20 cricket.
Earlier, Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan played together in Dhaka Gladiators.
In the last Bangabandhu BPL, Mahmudullah, Shakib and Mashrafe played for Gemcon Khulna.
Tamim is thrilled to have teammates like Mashrafe and Mahmudullah in one team. At the end of the draft, the left-arm opener said, "This is not to be expected. This time, fortunately it happened and we all are very happy. I don't think winning or losing in cricket, It is very important to enjoy cricket. The three of us will enjoy being together."
Mahmudullah echoed Tamim saying, "I always believed we could play together again. Tamim is also with us. This is the game we always enjoy playing with or under Mashrafe Bhai. During Bangabandhu T20 Cup, we had a very good time and we were able to play good cricket. I hope we can create such a good environment in this team and play good cricket.'
Dhaka was owned by another franchises but the BCB formed the team at its own risk as the previous owners could not keep their financial commitments.
Former cricketer and selector Habibul Bashar was in the charge to form the team and Shahriar Nafis was with him.
Tamim is however very confident about Dhaka.
"The team is very good. We don't know whether we will become a champion but we will fight definitely. You can make the best team, but there is no guarantee that they will do well. A very good team may not do well. It will depend on how we play. I am very happy with the team, but we have to play well," he concluded.
Source: BSS