Dhaka:Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam achieved the highest bid in the auction for the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) newly launched Domestic Three (D3) Trophy. Shoriful was acquired by Citizens Bank for a record 2.3 crore points, as franchises assembled their squads for the tournament scheduled to begin in December.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the auction operated on a points-based system, with teams competing to secure their preferred players within their allotted points. Citizens Bank secured Shoriful at the top price, while pacer Taskin Ahmed was picked up by Walton for 2.1 crore points, and opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim joined Fortune for 2 crore points.
Fortune also invested 1.55 crore points to sign Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, with Liton Das joining Walton for the same amount. Bluestar acquired Hasan Mahmud for 1.5 crore points, a price matched by Saif Hasan. Wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali Anik drew a bid of 1.7 crore points from Citizens Bank, and Seven Rings Cement signed right-arm pacer Khaled Ahmed for 1.5 crore points.
The auction saw 281 cricketers in the pool, with 275 available for bidding after pre-assigning six icon players to their respective franchises. Despite the competitive bids, Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib went unsold, missing out on the chance to make a return to competitive cricket through the D3 Trophy.