Rangpur Riders Sign Brendon McCullum For Upcoming BPL Season
Oct 20, 2017 at 12:15 PM
Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand skipper, is all set to play in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as the right-handed batsman has signed a deal with Rangpur Riders franchise for the upcoming edition of the league.
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McCullum’s signing wouldn’t have been possible had the South African global T20 league had not been postponed as both the tournaments were slated to start in the same week, which left players to choose one of the two T20 leagues. A postponement of the South African league though cleared the way for the players.
Since his retirement and even before that, McCullum has been part of the major T20 league played around the world. Recently, he played Carribean Premier League (CPL) for champions team Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR). However, he was ruled out mid-way the tournament due to an injury and was replaced by all-rounder Daniel Christian. TKR went on to chase down a target of 136 runs in the final of the tournament to clinch the trophy.
Before CPL, McCullum played for Gujarat Lions during the tenth edition of IPL. There as well, he suffered an injury and was ruled out of the tournament mid-way.
Meanwhile, this will the first time when the Kiwi player will be playing in the Bangladesh Premier League. Rangpur Riders have likes of Mashrafe Mortaza, David Willey, Ravi Bopara, Samuel Badree and Thisara Perera in their ranks and McCullum’s addition will be a big boost for the franchise, which has oodles of experience.
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The fifth edition of the T20 will get underway on November 4, with the first contest to be played between defending champions Dhaka Dynamites and hosts Sylhet Sixers. Rangpur Riders will open their BPL campaign on the opening day itself, in the second contest of the day against Rajshahi Kings at the same venue.
McCullum though is expected to miss the first few games of the season and will only be joining the squad during the second week of the tournament.
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