Chris Gayle's next T20 assignment revealed

Caribbean batting dynamo Chris Gayle is all set to join franchise Rangpur Riders for the fifth edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Ishtiaq Sadek, the chief executive of Rangpur Riders has confirmed the news of Gayle’s signing. The T20 great played the previous season for the Chittagong Vikings franchise.

The 37-year-old swashbuckling left-hander has been playing franchises-based T20 leagues around the world since its inception. Gayle has been a part of BPL in all the four editions and has played for four different franchises in the league. The leading century scorer in BPL, as well as T20 cricket overall, has made 15 appearances in the tournament so far. He has scored 650 runs measuring an average of 54.16 with an unbelievable strike rate of 174.95. He registered 3 magnificent centuries and a fifty while scoring those runs.

Gayle will be unable for the whole tournament

However, despite being roped in by the Rangpur Riders, Gayle’s services in the upcoming edition will be limited. The franchise won’t have access to Gayle for the whole tournament due to his busy schedule in the overseas T20 leagues. On the contrary, if Rangpur can succeed in making it to the Qualifiers round, then they will get his service, Ishtiaq Sadek, the chief executive of RR revealed.

On the other hand, the Riders have retained national players Arafat Sunny and Rubel Hossain in the squad. They have also earlier confirmed the signings of four overseas cricketers, Samuel Badree, Johnson Charles, Thisara Perera and Ravi Bopara for the BPL season 5. Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody has been bestowed with the coach duties.

The first match of the fifth edition is scheduled to be played on November 4 when the defending champions will host the opening game of the tournament. The player draft will be held on September 16 and a total of 60 matches will be played, with Dhaka scheduled to host the finals.