Foreign flavour to Bangladesh Premier League

Tainted Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir will be featuring in the Bangladesh Premier League

As many as 19 overseas and 63 local players have been drafted in the general lottery for the 2015 edition of Bangladesh Premier League, ESPNCricinfo reports. Out of 63, six icons for the six franchises were selected on Thursday.

Rangpur, which had the first pick, chose Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal was selected by Chittagong, Mashrafe Mortaza by Comilla, Mushfiqur Rahim by Sylhet, Mahmudullah by Barisal, and Nasir Hossain by Dhaka.

According to the report, the list of foreign cricketers signed outside the draft includes Shahid Afridi (Sylhet), Chris Gayle (Barisal) and Kumar Sangakkara (Dhaka) as well as Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir (Chittagong).

Seven Pakistan players, including Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Sami, were selected, while five Sri Lanka players and a cricketer each from South Africa (Robin Peterson), West Indies (Andre Russell) and Afghanistan (Mohammad Nabi) were chosen in the draft.

BPL excites returning Aamir

Mohammad Amir, who recently returned to cricket after serving out a suspension for spot-fixing expressed his delight as he inched closer to action. Amir feels the T20 league in Bangladesh might just be the platform which re-launches his career.

"I am really thankful to the team for choosing me and I will try my best to give them my 100 percent performance and enthrall the Bangladeshi fans," Amir said. "It will be the first step towards reviving my international career."

The franchise drafts:

1. Barisal: Mahmudullah (icon), Chris Gayle, Brendan Taylor, Kevon Cooper, Evin Lewis, Seekkuge Prasanna, Mohammad Sami, Imad Wasim, Sabbir Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Taijul Islam, Rony Talukdar, Al-Amin Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Mehedi Maruf, Nadif Chowdhury, Mohammad Sharifullah, Sajidul Islam.

2. Chittagong: Tamim Iqbal (icon), Umar Akmal, Chamara Kapugedera, Mohammad Amir, Elton Chigumbura, Kamran Akmal, Robin Peterson, Saeed Ajmal, Jeevan Mendis, Anamul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Ziaur Rahman, Naeem Islam, Enamul Haque jnr, Shafiul Islam, Nafees Iqbal, Elias Sunny, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Asif Ahmed.

3. Comilla: Mashrafe Mortaza (icon), Sunil Narine, Shoaib Malik, Marlon Samuels, Ahmed Shehzad, Krishmar Santokie, Andre Russell, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Darren Stevens, Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom, Sanjamul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Ariful Haque, Mahmudul Hasan, Naeem Islam jnr, Abu Hider, Dhiman Ghosh.

4. Dhaka: Nasir Hossain (icon), Kumar Sangakkara, Ryan ten Doeschate, Mohammad Irfan, Yasir Shah, Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan, Dawid Malan, Shahzaib Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mosharraf Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Shamsur Rahman, Saikat Ali, Farhad Reza, Nabil Samad, Abul Hasan, Irfan Shukkur.

5. Rangpur: Shakib Al Hasan (icon), Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz, Sachithra Senanayake, Mohammad Nabi, Soumya Sarkar, Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Mithun, Muktar Ali, Saqlain Sajib, Jahurul Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Murad Khan, Rasel Al Mamun.

6. Sylhet: Mushfiqur Rahim (icon), Shahid Afridi, Ravi Bopara, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Chris Jordan, Sohail Tanvir, Joshua Cobb, Rubel Hossain, Mominul Haque, Abdur Razzak, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Shahid, Najmul Islam, Junaid Siddique, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Abu Sayem.