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Graeme Cremer

Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE cricket captain Graeme Cremer’s recent form has earned him recognition in the Bangladesh Premier League after he was snapped up by defending champions Dhaka Dynamites for this year’s T20 tournament.

Cremer, who was the driving force behind Zimbabwe’s successful tour of Sri Lanka recently, yesterday said he was looking forward to the challenge in the tournament, which has drawn some big names since its inauguration in 2012.

The leg-spinner will be in the same team with the likes of Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, Asela Gunaratne (Sri Lanka), Mohammad Amir (Pakistan), Sunil Narine (West Indies) and Bangladesh national T20 skipper Shakib Al Hasan.

The tournament will take place from November 2 across three cities of Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong.

“Obviously, people look at your form and performances and I am sure this has allowed me to get this opportunity to play at the tournament. So it means a lot to me as a cricketer.

“The good thing is that I have a good record in Bangladesh and I hope it will not change when I return there for the tournament.

“Hopefully, I will be able to maintain my form. At least we have some competitive games coming up before that tournament with West Indies coming down here in a few months to play Zimbabwe,” said Cremer.

The 30-year-old is one of the few players who have already agreed contracts before the floating of the annual draft which takes place next month.

His team Dhaka Dynamites are the most successful franchise in the tournament, having won three of the last four editions of the BPL.

The team was originally established in 2012 for the inaugural BPL season as the Dhaka Gladiators and they won both the 2012 and 2013 editions of the tournament.

The Gladiators were one of the teams dissolved in 2013 after the second edition.

The franchise was sold to the current owners Beximco Group and rebranded as the Dynamites.

Eight teams will take part in the tournament.

Other international stars that will take part this year include West Indies big hitter Chris Gayle who has never missed an edition, his compatriot Lendl Simmons, Seekuge Prasanna of Sri Lanka, Kyle Abott and Rilee Rossouw of South Africa, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shadab Khan of Pakistan.