The squads for the 7th Bangladesh Cricket League were formed through a draft at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday in order to bring balance to the teams and make the four-day tournament more competitive.

The tournament committee allowed each respective zone to retain six players while the rest were picked up through the draft.

"It was the board's decision [to introduce a draft system for the first time]. But it will help to bring balance among the sides. Most of the players come from South and North Zone but they represent national team so we get good performances from them. However, when they leave for national duty, those teams are weakened. In this case, the draft can help them form a balanced side. I believe this system will greatly improve competitiveness," observed former national captain and North Zone coach Khaled Mashud.

"The new format means a player-by-choice system has been introduced. Everybody has tried to retain their old players as six were allowed. We lost two or three players like Imrul Kayes, Ziaur Rahman and Mosaddek Hossain but we picked new players in their place. We have confirmed Rakibul Hasan and Shafiul Islam and we have Al-Amin and Kamrul Islam. We tried our best to make a good, balanced side," said South Zone veteran Tushar Imran.

Zafrul Ehsan, the Walton Central Zone coach, also spoke in favour of the draft system.

"I am taking it positively. Good and quality players will play and the formerly weaker zones can now play with good players. There is hardly any chance to see good players sitting in the dressing room, so I am optimistic," opined Ehsan.

The four-team first class tournament will start from November 21 with Prime Bank South Zone taking on Walton Central Zone at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. BCB North Zone will face off against Islami Bank East Zone in the other first round match at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.

SQUADS

BCB NORTH ZONE

Jahurul Islam, Junaid Siddiqui, Farhad Hossain, Naeem Islam, Subashis Roy, Mizanur Rahman, Sunzamul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Sabbir Rahman, Dhiman Ghosh, Tanbir Hider, Sohag Gazi, Mohor Sheikh, Ebadat Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Muktar Ali, Ariful Haque and Tawhid Hridoy.

ISLAMI BANK EAST ZONE

Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Khaled Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Zakir Hasan, Afif Hossain, Farhad Reza, Rony Talukdar, Shamsur Rahman, Yasir Ali, Tasamul Haque, Enamul Haque Jr, Hasan Mahmud, Mahidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan, Sadiqur Rahman, Ifran Hossain, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Imrul Kayes.

PRIME BANK SOUTH ZONE

Tushar Imran, Anamul Haque, Shahriar Nafees, Al-Amin Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rakibul Hasan, Kamrul Islam, Al-Amin, Nahidul Islam, Fazle Mahmud, Mahedi Hasan, Sajedul Islam, Monir Hossain, Salman Hossain, Delwar Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun and Mehedi Maruf.

WALTON CENTRAL ZONE

Shadman Islam, Abu Haider, Shuvagata Hom, Taibur Rahman, Mosharraf Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Robiul Haque, Abdul Mazid, Shahidul Islam, Jaker Ali, Arafat Sunny, Mosaddek Hossain, Salauddin Sakil, Saif Hassan, Sharifullah, Yeasin Arafat, Liton Das, Zabid Hossain and Taskin Ahmed.