The 2019-20 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is all set to get underway on December 11. The opening ceremony will take place at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on December 8. The first match of the T20 league be between the Chattogram Challengers and the Sylhet Thunder.

Cumilla Warriors and Rangpur Rangers will play the second game on the day. The draft of the BPL took place on November 17. The T20 tournament was earlier scheduled to start on December 6 with the opening ceremony to take place on December 3.

Nevertheless, the Bangabandhu BPL was later re-scheduled. There will be plenty of new names, who have come up the ranks, over the last few months or so. Many of the cricketers will be eyeing the BPL as a platform.

In the article, let’s took at 5 debutants to look out for in the Bangabandhu BPL:-

Ryan Burl

Ryan Burl made his T20I debut in February 2018, but it was in September this year when the world got aware of his potential. The southpaw plundered Shakib Al Hasan for 34 runs in an over that included five colossal sixes and a boundary. Then the 25-year-old posed some threats with his leg-spin, dismissing Mahmudullah.

Burl weaved his magic at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. Later, he did well in the Singapore tri-nation series, getting a couple of quick-fire 41* and 28*. He also got wickets in every game he played, including a three-fer.

Chattogram Challengers took note of his performances and got him in the draft. Having already played in Bangladesh, Burl knows what to expect from the conditions. The Zimbabwe all-rounder may turn out to be the Challengers’ X-factor.

Avishka Fernando

Avishka Fernando is amongst the talented Sri Lanka batsmen doing the rounds in their cricket. The century he scored against the West Indies in the 2019 World Cup earned him a lot of praises. The Wadduwa-born played 148 runs in 10 T20Is since his debut earlier this year.

Numbers show that the 21-year-old is yet to find his feet in the format, but there’s no death of potential by any means. He also looked good for Team Abu Dhabi in the T10 league at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. There he got a 21-ball, though it couldn’t save his team off a 27-run defeat against Bangla Tigers.

His overall T20 figures aren’t worth dismissing though. In 24 games, Fernando has racked up 472 runs at a strike-rate of 132.58. Along with Burl, Fernando is one of the overseas recruits of the Challengers.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the 18-year-old Afghanistan sensation, came into the limelight in the 2018 U19 World Cup in New Zealand. Then it took him over a year to don the national jersey during the Bangladesh tri-series in September. In seven T20Is thus far, the Young Turk has 227 runs at an average of 32.42, striking at 138.41.

Moreover, the wicketkeeper batsman has a couple of fifties. In his last T20I versus the West Indies in Lucknow, Gurbaz got a 52-ball 79 with six fours and five hits into the stands. The knocked helped the Afghans win the game by 29 runs.

Rahmanullah will now turn out for the Khulna Tigers where he will get to rub shoulders with the likes of Mohammad Amir and Mushfiqur Rahim. Gurbaz will also have his Afghan teammate Najibullah Zadran for company.

Aminul Islam Biplob

Aminul Islam Biplob has gotten chances in only six T20s thus far. However, in the limited opportunities, he has put forth his potential. On his debut for Bangladesh, the leg-spinner finished with figures of 4-0-18-2, impressing one and all. But luck didn’t favour him as he was ruled out due to a hand injury.

Thereafter, the 20-year-old gave a glimpse of his talent in the India T20I series. Even as the other Tigers’ bowlers came under the pump, Biplob churned out wickets at crucial stages and also didn’t leak runs. The tweaker also got into the Bangladesh Emerging XI in the ACC Cup in November.

In the BPL, the 20-year-old is yet to ply his trade for the Khulna Tigers. The Shariatpur-born will have the likes of Allis Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz for company in the spin department

Lewis Gregory

Lewis Gregory recently made his debut for England in the T20I series in New Zealand. In the matches, he didn’t get much a chance, but that doesn’t undermine his stupendous all-round abilities. In the 2018 T20 Blast he smashed 328 runs for Somerset at a strike rate in excess of 200. The Plymouth-born has plied his craft in 88 T20s where he scored 1,006 runs, striking at 146.86.

Gregory is no mug with the ball, having picked up 81 wickets in those game with three four-wicket hauls. With the Brits giving a lot of newbies chances before the T20 World Cup next year, Gregory is likely to get more time to settle down at the highest level.

The 27-year-old will be playing for the Rangpur Rangers in the BPL where the veteran Mohammad Nabi has been appointed as the captain.