The Hockey Champions Trophy, the first-ever hockey franchise league in the country, is set to roll on Friday at 6:00pm at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka. Saif Power Group Khulna and ACME Chattogram will face off in the opening match.
In the second match on the same day at 8:15pm, Monarch Mart Padma will face Rupayan Group Cumilla at the same venue.
The round-robin league matches will be concluded on 12 November while the qualifying and elimination round matches will be played on 14 and 15 November. The final is scheduled for 17 November.
Earlier in September, a total of six franchises for six divisional teams were sold. Then, the players' drafting was held in the first week of October. There, each of the six franchises picked their one icon local and 16 other local and foreign players for the Hockey Champions Trophy. Thus, each of the teams got 17 players for the event and they will be able to register 13 players for each of the matches.
In the players drafting, Rezaul Karim was taken in by ACME Chattogram as its icon player. The team also picked Devinder Walmiki (India), Farhad Ahmed Shitul, Mehedi Hasan, Ghazanfar Ali (Pakistan), Muhamad Hafiz Zainol (Malaysia), Sajibur Rahman, Rajib Das, Taher Ali, Peer Hinrichs (Germany), Arshad Hossain, Hasan Jubayer Niloy, Ashraful Alam, Manoj Babu, Tasin Ali and Kanchan Miah.
Star national forward Russel Mahmud Jimmy was picked by Monarch Mart Padma, a team owned by the captain of Test and T20I cricket of the Bangladesh national cricket team Shakib Al Hasan. The other players of the team are Chinglesana Singh (India), Imran Hasan, Nayeem Uddin, Saif Khan (India), Seo Woo Hyeong (South Korea), Al Nahiyan Shuvo, Khaled Mahmud Rakin, Azim Uddin, Miyu Tanimitus (Japan), Ashraful Islam, Ramim Hossain, Ashik Mahmud Sagar, Krishna Kumar, Rahit Hossain, Rafiul Islam, and Rakibul Hasan.
Metro Express Barishal picked Roman Sarkar, Juan Martin Lopez (Argentina), Asim Gope, Fazle Hossain Rabbi, Yoo Seung Ho (South Korea), Akhimullah Esook (Malaysia), Sarwar Morshed Shawon, Mahbub Hossain, Deen Islam Emon, Fitri Saari (Malaysia), Nuruzzaman, Shaheedul Haque Saikat, Azizur Rahman, drag and flick expert Mamunur Rahman Chayan, Asaduzzaman, Sajedul Islam, and Shamim Miah.
Rupayan Group Cumilla selected Sohanur Rahman Sabuj, Pardeep Mor (India), Sarwar Hossain, Puskar Khisha Mimo, Kim Sung Yeob (South Korea), Mohammad Fathur (Indonesia), Milon Hossain, Obaidul Hossain, Ripon Kumar, Jasjit Singh (India), Sahidur Rahman Saju, Ukhin Rakhine, Zahid Hossain, Belal Hossain, Shimul Islam, Tanveer Rahman, and Mehedi Hasan Limon.
Saif Power Khulna took in Biplob Kujur as its iconic player. Besides, the team bought Guido Barreiros (Argentina), Khorshedur Rahman, Prince Lal, Azfar Yaqoob (Pakistan), Firdaus Rosdi (Malaysia), Amirul Islam, Ahsan Habib, Raju Ahmed, Moritz Frey (Germany and Austria), Miraz Hossain, Sajeeb Hossain Sifat, Tanzim Ahmed, Kamrujjaman Rana, Saddam Khan, Deen Islam, and Yasin Arafat.
Walton Dhaka, on the other hand, got Ashraful Islam as its iconic player. The team also bought SV Sunil (India), Abu Sayeed Nippon, Rakibul Hasan Rocky, Abdul Khaliq Hamirin (Malaysia), Alfandy Aly Surya (Indonesia), Safiul Alam Shishir, Mehrab Hossain Samin, Abed Uddin, Muhammad Azri Hasan (Malaysia), Aman Sharif, Al Amin, Ratul Ahmed, Mainul Islam, Mohammad Abdullah, Hozaifa Hossain, and Tayeb Ali.
