While the Sultans of Sylhet grabbed the biggest local name in Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the Cyclones of Chittagong made an even bigger splash after they announced the capture of Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhter for the National Cricket League's brand new Twenty20 tournament.
Sylhet snapped up Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe when six franchises chose the players through a lottery during a marathon launching ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel yesterday.
However, dashing opener Tamim Iqbal, the Icon of Cyclones of Chittagong, soon burst Sylhet's bubble as he disclosed that his side was all set to bring in Akhter, who has been in the wilderness of international cricket for quite a long period of time.
"It is all but confirmed that [Shoaib] Akhter will join the team before the start of the tournament [on April 11]," said Tamim.
Country's leading paceman Mashrafe, who is currently with IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders, was also given the highest grade but not included in the Icon Players' list. Sylhet capitalised on this and picked his name in their first opportunity.
In the launching ceremony of the tournament the main attraction was the players' selections through lottery after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had initially distributed four Icon Players amongst each of the six divisional teams.
The respective teams' Icon Players along with the coaching staff took part in the lottery to select the player and they got little time to think about the selection.
During the programme, which started an hour later than scheduled, the owners of the six divisional teams were introduced and the logos for the different teams were also unveiled.
BCB's director and marketing committee chairman Aziz Al Kaiser Titoo along with his three other partners came forward to buy the Barisal team to make sure that no team would remain unsold.
ATN Records, who got the event marketing rights, also signed a deal with Destiny2000, which earned the title sponsorship rights spending Tk 1.5 crore.
Gazi Ashraf Hossain, BCB's director and chairman of the tournament committee, informed that five matches would be held under floodlights at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur despite the country going through a severe power crisis.
"First of all I apologise for the delay. We believe that it would be a successful event and helpful for the national players before the World Cup. Despite power crisis five matches will be day-night affairs," said Ashraf.
Former national skipper Roquibul Hassan was moderator in the programme.
CYCLONES OF CHITTAGONG
Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Faisal Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Uttam Sarker, Enamul Haque, Saqlain Sajib, Marshal Ayub, Kamrul Islam, Nafis Iqbal, Sharifullah, Talha Jubair and Tanveer Haider.
DHAKA DYNAMITES
Mohammad Ashraful, Mahmudullah Riyad, Jahirul Islam, Mahbubul Alam, Shamsur Rahman, Mohammad Rafique, Nur Hossain Munna, Tapash Baishya, Emon Ahmed, Abul Hasan Raju, Nabil Samad, Mohammad Shahajada, Mehrab Hossain and Rumman Ahmed.
KINGS OF KHULNA
Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Dollar Mahmud, Mohammad Mithun, Imtiaz Hossain, Alauddin Babu, Tushar Imran, Forhad Hossain and Mohammad Sharif, Elias Sunny, Nurul Hossain, Tareq Aziz Khan and Nizamuddin.
BARISAL BLAZERS
Nafees Iqbal, Rokibul Hasan, Nazimuddin, Ziaur Rahman, Sabbir Ahmed, Rony Talukdar, Syed Rasel, Shuvasish Roy, Arafat Sunny, Shaker Ahmed, Sahagir Hossain, Mahmudul Hasan, Robiul Islam and Monir Hossain.
RAJSHAHI RANGERS
Naeem Islam, Junaed Siddiqui, Shafiul Islam, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Sanjamul Islam, Shuvagoto Hom, Nadif Chowdhury, Mukter Ali, Khaled Mashud, Hannan Sarker, Ezaz Ahmed, Delwar Hossain, Anisur Rahman and Taposh Ghosh.
SULTANS OF SYLHET
Alok Kapali, Forhad Reza, Nazmul Hossain, Mosharraf Rubel, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Ariful Haque, Zubaer Ahmed, Nazmus Sadat, Dhiman Ghosh, Amit Majumdar, Farid Uddin, Gazi Salahuddin and Rajin Saleh.
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