Brendon McCullum joins Rangpur Riders for the fifth edition of BPL

Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has joined Rangpur Riders for the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. One of the most explosive batsmen of his times, the Kiwi will miss out on the initial games of the BPL and he will be joining his side on November 15, ten days after the opening game. McCullum will be a huge boost for the BPL franchise as apart from his power-hitting, his experience will also come into play.

McCullum won’t be coming out of the cold, as he has played in the Caribbean Premier League, and more recently in the Natwest T20 Blast in England. Interestingly, he will be joining the West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Both the batsmen have played for the same team (Kolkata Knight Riders) at one point in the IPL.

Mortaza connects with the Rangpur franchise

Bangladesh ODI Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will lead the Rangpur team, and he will be happy to have the big names by his side. He recently took part in a charity event and praised the Rangpur franchise for their support to physically disabled people.  “I firmly hope that Rangpur Riders will continue its efforts to bring the people with physical disabilities into the mainstream of the society,”

“Rangpur Riders is inspiring disabled cricketers and at the same time, conducting programmes to find out new and talented cricketers-Better quality cricketers, if get chance, might come to the national cricket from Rangpur in future,” he said. A number of experienced cricketers will play in Rangpur Riders and we will be able to gift something very good to the people of Rangpur in the upcoming BPL tournament,” he added.

Rangpur Riders:

Local Players: Mashrafe Mortaza (icon), Rubel Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Mithun, Abdur Razzak, Ebadat Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Nazmul Islam Apu, Ziaur Rahman, Fazle Mahmud, Elias Sunny, Nahidul Islam.

Foreign Players: Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Adam Lyth, Kusal Perera, Johnson Charles, Ravi Bopara, Thisara Perera, David Willey, Samuel Badree, Sam Hain, Samiullah Shenwari, Zahir Khan.