Mashrafee, Jahirul among eight Tigers for IPL auction

[Nadim]

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jahirul Islam and former captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza are among the eight Bangladeshi cricketers to have been selected for next month’s Indian Premier League auction in Bangalore.

The three-member national selection committee prepared a list of eight players for the IPL auction that also included Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain.

The players’ auction for the fifth edition of the IPL will be held at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel in Bangalore on February 4.

Bangladesh’s Sakib al Hasan is already under contract with Kolkata Knight Riders and thus will not be put on auction.

Of the eight Bangladeshis selected for the auction, only pace bowler Mashrafee was previously involved in the cash-rich event, though the playing experience of the $600,000 KKR player was limited to one game.

He was not included at the auction for the last edition due to injury.

‘Mashrafee is an ideal Twenty20 player and he also recently showed signs of recovering from his knee surgery. By the time IPL begins, we are hopeful he will be completely fit,’ said chief selector Akram Khan.

‘We also selected Omi [Jahirul] as he is an in-form cricketer. His plus point is wicket-keeping, so we will not be surprised if he is picked by any franchise,’ he said.

The chief selector added that they considered current form, not past records of the players and this was the reason for the three BPL icons Mohammad Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees and Alok Kapali for not getting a place at the auction.

Ashraful is one of the four Bangladeshi cricketers to have played in the IPL alongside Sakib, Mashrafee and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak.

Tamim, snubbed three times by the IPL franchises

in the past, is a favourite to join the list this season.

There is a strong rumour in Dhaka that a local businessman has bought a stake in the KKR and he has already made a commitment to Tamim.

The IPL 2012 season will get on to the field on April 4.

http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/sports/48372.html



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Tamim will get a team this yr i guess. And maybe Nasir. Rest are there to make the numbers in my honest opinion.