The Rangpur Riders are a franchise cricket team based in Rangpur, Bangladesh, which plays in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Captained by Naeem Islam, they were one of seven teams that competed in the 2016 Bangladesh Premier League.
Prior to the season, the ownership of the Riders was transferred to Sohana Sports. The team rearranged its playing squad with Shahid Afridi, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Shehzad, and many other acclaimed cricketers. Shakib Al Hasan, the icon player from the previous edition, was transferred to Dhaka Dynamites. The club made headlines with the acquisition of Shane Watson, David Miller, and Anwar Ali.
The Riders started the season strong with a dominating victory against the Chittagong Vikings, winning the match by 9 wickets, with Mohammad Shehzad scoring 80 runs. The team continued its domination during its second game, getting Khulna Titans all out for 44, the lowest ever total in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Player draft The 2016 BPL draft was held on 30 September. Prior to the draft, the seven clubs signed 38 foreign players to contracts, and each existing franchise was able to retain two home-grown players from the 2015 season. A total of 301 players participated in the draft, including 133 local and 168 foreign players. 85 players were selected in the draft.
Player transfers Prior to the 2016 draft, a number of high-profile players moved teams. These included transfers between competing teams and due to the suspension of the signing of Shahid Afridi as team captain of Rangpur Riders from the Sylhet Super Stars and Shakib Al Hasan as team captain of Dhaka Dynamites from Rangpur Riders.
Points table
The top four teams qualified for playoffs advanced to the Qualifier advanced to the Eliminator
Squad NameNationalityBatting styleBowling styleYear signedNotes BatsmenSoumya Sarkar Left-handed Right arm medium-fast 2015 Sharjeel Khan Left-handed Right-arm leg spin 2016 Babar Azam Right-handed Right-arm off break 2016 Pinak Ghosh Left-handed – 2016 Gidron Pope Left-handed Right-arm off-spin 2016 Gihan Rupasinghe Left-handed Right-arm leg break 2016 All-roundersShahid Afridi Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2016 Anwar Ali Right-hand Right-arm fast medium 2016 Dasun Shanaka Right-handed Right-arm medium 2016 Ziaur Rahman Left-handed Right-arm medium 2016 Naeem Islam Right-handed Right-arm off break 2016 CaptainSohag Gazi Right-handed Right-arm off break 2016 Muktar Ali Right-handed Right arm medium-fast 2015 Liam Dawson Right-handed Slow Left-arm orthodox 2016 Shane Watson Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 2016 Wicket-keepersMithun Ali Right-handed – 2015 OpenerMohammad Shehzad Right-handed – 2016 Opener BowlersSachithra Senanayake Right-handed Right arm off spin 2015 Rubel Hossain Right-handed Right-arm fast 2016 Arafat Sunny Left-handed Slow Left-arm orthodox 2015 Elias Sunny Left-handed Slow Left-arm orthodox 2015 Mehrab Hossain Right-handed bat Right-arm medium 2016 Shahbaz Chouhan Right-handed Slow Left-arm orthodox 2016 Richard Gleeson Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2016
References