BBL gets a big boost as Rashid, Bravo, and Pollard nominated for draft

Afghanistans charismatic spinner Rashid Khan and West Indies Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo headline the latest batch of cricketing stars nominated for the Australias Big Bash League BBL inaugural international draftRashid Pollard and Bravo together have played 1476 T20 matches scoring 20065 runs and taking 1371 wickets and join South African batter Faf du Plessis as the latest marquee nominations in the draft poolA report in cricketcomau said on Friday that Rashid following a superb run in the Indian Premier League with Gujarat Titans is almost certain to return to Adelaide Strikers with head coach Jason Gillespie already indicating he will do everything they can to retain the Afghanistan legspinner who has played 61 matches for the clubPollard and Bravo whose last BBL appearances were in 201718 and 201819 respectively are free to be picked up by any club and are not eligible to be snared on a retention pick Both Trinidadians are fresh off a stint in Englands T20 Blast where Pollard helped Surrey reach the quarterfinals and Bravo collected nine wickets for the Worcestershire Rapids the report saidPollard with 598 matches across 18 teams is the most experienced T20 cricketer of all time He is also the formats third highest rungetter of all time with 11670 runs at 3120 and strike rate of 151 The 35yearold Pollard the former West Indies whiteball skipper quit international cricket a couple of months back while compatriot Bravo retired from internationals after last years T20 World Cup in the UAEBravo is the second most capped player with 542 matches and his 596 wickets has him way ahead of Rashid Khan with 466 as T20s top two leading wickettakersRashid recently featured in the Blast for Sussex snaring eight wickets in six matches and returns to the BBL if picked in next months draft looking to be the first overseas bowler to take 100 wickets in the competition He is currently on 92Afghanistans 24yearold opening batter Hazratullah Zazai joins Rashid in the inaugural draft pool with an enviable T20 record of 2308 runs at a strike rate of 144 in 82 matches in the Pakistan Sri Lankan and Bangladesh T20 leaguesThe duo is is among six Afghan cricketers to nominate including fellow legspinner Qais Ahmad who is eligible for retention by the Melbourne Stars having taken 13 wickets in 10 matches last season according to the reportAlso Read Virat Kohli does not need reassurance Rohit SharmaA total of 100 nominations have been received since the draft was announced last month and more are likely to get added soonWest Indies leftarm pace bowler Sheldon Cottrell joins Pollard and Bravo in a strong 14player contingent from the Caribbean which also includes pacer Ravi Rampaul and toporder batter Evin LewisBBLs Player Acquisition and Cricket Consultant Trent Woodhill said having three worldclass cricketers in the draft was a huge boost for the tournament To receive nominations from players such as Rashid Khan Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo demonstrates the attention on the BBL in the global marketplace thanks to the draft he saidDraft nominations so farAfghanistan Rashid Khan Qais Ahmad Fazalhaq Farooqi Rahmanullah Gurbaz Waqarullah Ishaq Izharulhaq Naveed Naveenulhaq Murid Hazratullah ZazaiNamibia David WieseNew Zealand Colin Munro Todd AstleSouth Africa Faf du Plessis Marchant de Lange Rilee RossouwWest Indies Dwayne Bravo Kieron Pollard Sheldon Cottrell Chemar Holder Akeal Hosein Evin Lewis Anderson Phillip Khary Pierre Ravi Rampaul Sherfane Rutherford Jayden Seales Kevin Sinclair Tion Webster Nyeem YoungThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever