IPL 2018: 5 players who made their mark in the Bangladesh Premier League

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) recently came to a halt, after bearing witness to some stellar individual performances and keenly contested matches. A lot of players in the BPL would have been looking to audition for the auctions of the grandest stage of them all, the Indian Premier League (IPL). With the auction retention policy now clear, scouts from all IPL franchisees would have keenly monitored the premier league on the other side of India's Eastern border.

Rangpur Riders bagged their maiden title in the tournament, after Chris Gayle steamrolled the Dhaka Warriors in the finals with an innings that you must watch to believe. It's always exciting to witness an evenly contested final, but hey, no-one is complaining after having witnessed the Gayle-storm at its destructive best.

The tournament spanned for over a month and encompassed some exceptional games of cricket. The Indian Premier League couldn't come sooner now! Let's take a look at five players who would have caught the eye of the IPL franchisees and are likely to cause a stir at the IPL auctions of 2018.

#5 Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan became the first Afghanistan national to play in the Indian Premier League last season, when he donned the orange of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. His spin bowling baffled many batsmen, and Rashid emerged as one of the bowlers of the season, with 17 wickets in 14 games at a reasonable economy rate of 6.62.

His exploits in the IPL saw him become one of the most sought out players in the BPL. He was bagged by the Comilla Victorians, who went in to the playoffs as the league table toppers. They sorely missed ace bowler Rashid Khan in the playoffs, as they crashed out of the tournament with two back-to-back defeats.

Rashid bagged only 6 wickets in his 7 games, but he hardly gave any runs away with a phenomenal economy of 4.46, which was the lowest across the league. His leg-breaks and tricky googlies can baffle even the best of batsmen.

With the Sunrisers seeing the likes of David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan in their squad, it will be interesting to see whether Rashid Khan is picked for retention. If not, we are likely to see a lot of franchisees battle for the lethal Afghani spinner in the auctions.

#4 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine has been one of the hardest bowlers to bat against in the shortest format of the game, ever since the West Indies' 'mystery spinner' took the 2012 edition of the IPL by storm. After he was forced to change his bowling action, a lot of critics claimed that he would never be the same again.

They were partially right, as he lost his zing with the change in action. Despite the setback, he continues to be among the best bowlers out there. In the Bangladesh Premier League, it was evident that batsman were coming on to the pitch with the per-conceived mindset of not going after Narine.

He was treated with respect and caution, and thus ended with only 11 wickets. However, his economy rate of 4.95 was bettered by only Rashid Khan.

Until last season, not many of us knew what Narine was capable of with the bat. A lot of us rubbed our eyes in disbelief when he opened the innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders last season. His exploits in the 2017 season were unbelievable, as he accumulated 224 runs with a strike rate of 172.30.

He even smashed IPL's fastest ever fifty in 15 balls against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He continued this form in the BPL, amassing 200 runs at a strike-rate of 147.05.

These facts and figures show that Sunil Narine is an indispensable T20 asset. Kolkata Knight Riders have been rumoured to have claimed that one retention would be enough for them. However, Narine has had a tremendous BPL season and the Kolkata Knight Riders representatives must surely be considering retaining the Caribbean spinner.

#3 Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh v Australia - 2nd Test: Day 3

The 30-year old Bangladeshi had yet another successful Bangladesh Premier League campaign. He has been considered to be among the best all-rounders for a while now, and is in fact the highest ranked T20 all-rounder currently. He has shown us why that is the case with excellent performances with both bat and ball in the BPL.

He was particularly exceptional with the ball this time, having bagged 22 wickets, ending the league as its highest wicket-taker.

His wicket tally equalled that of Kevon Cooper, and is the highest ever in a single BPL campaign. In addition to his wickets, Shakib had a healthy economy of 6.49.

With the bat, he was consistent and hit a respectable 211 runs across the tournament. He captained his side, Dhaka Dynamites, to the finals of the tournament. His experience as captain of the team, along with his experience both in the IPL and internationally, could be valuable.

All in all, Shakib would be a great asset to have with his all-round prowess and experience. Kolkata Knight Riders have heavy weights in the form of Gautam Gambhir, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, and the odds of the Bangladeshi veteran being retained aren't great. But he has gathered attention after a successful BPL campaign, and could go for big money in the 2018 IPL auctions.

#2 Evin Lewis

Destructive opener Evin Lewis is slated to be the next Chris Gayle

He has been endorsed to be the next Chris Gayle, and is slated to cause a bidding war in the upcoming auction. Evin Lewis surely made his case in the Bangladesh Premier League. He hit 396 runs across 12 games at a healthy strike rate of 159.03, smashing 27 sixes in the process.

He was the second highest run-scorer in the league, second to only Gayle, who overtook Lewis in the final game of the tournament with an audacious century. Lewis hit three fifties, including a crucial 31-ball 75 in a big run chase.

At 25, Evin Lewis is still young and franchisees would be yearning to sign him as he could be around for many years to come.

Lewis has troubled India a lot with his only two international T20 centuries both coming against the Indians. His maiden century came in 2016 when he plundered the Indian bowlers to hit a 100 runs in 49 balls, and help the West Indies post a mammoth 245 runs on the board. India, owing to KL Rahul's maiden century, almost pulled off one of the greatest T20 chases in history only to lose by a single run.

More recently, in July 2017, the two teams faced off again, with India batting first this time. India posted 190 on the board, and looked good for the win until Lewis came out to bat. He was not out at 125 runs in 62 balls, and helped chase down the big total with 9 balls to spare. He created history with this innings, becoming the first player ever to score two T20 centuries against the same team.

T20's greatest batsman, Chris Gayle, was cheekily asked if there would be any batsman who could reach his T20 prowess. Gayle's reply was "Evin Lewis, watch out for him". Hope you're listening, IPL!

#1 Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle guided the Rangpur Riders to their maiden BPL title with a century in the finals

Do we really need to say much about this man? After an ordinary stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gayle went unsold in the 2011 auctions only to be shipped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement to injured pacer Dirk Nannes. Gayle debuted for the team in red with a blistering century against his old team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. He hasn't looked back since, cruising to two orange caps, and constantly putting on a show for spectators with his majestic sixes.

He has, however, lost his way over the past couple of seasons. The last season especially saw him slump to his lowest, where he found himself struggling to even find a spot in the starting eleven. With only a handful of retentions available for each franchisee, it seemed unlikely that the Royal Challengers would retain the Chinnaswamy crowd favourite, Gayle.

Until now.

The big man from the West Indies has made a statement, and how. He smashed 485 runs at a strike rate of 176.36 in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to earn the player of the season award and more importantly, guide his team Rangpur Riders to their maiden BPL title. Gayle started the playoffs at No. 15 in the list of run-getters, only to finish the tournament at the top, and that too by some distance.

Rangpur finished fourth on the points table and had to win three games on the trot in the playoffs to win the title. The eliminator saw them having to chase a tricky target of 167 set by the Khulna Titans. Chris Gayle absolutely decimated the bowling attack to make a mockery of the chase, smashing 126 runs in just 51 balls. He hit an incredible record 14 sixes to help chase down the target in a mere 15.2 overs.

Just as word started to spread among cricket fans about the big man's return to form, he did it again and he did it even better. In the grand finale, Gayle single-handedly knocked the sails out of Dhaka Dynamites' sails with a mammoth innings. He smashed 146 runs in 69 deliveries and took his all-time T20 run tally past the 11,000 run figure.

He annihilated his own BPL record of 14 sixes in an innings set in the eliminator, hitting an incredible 18 sixes in the final.

The T20 phenomenon that is Chris Gayle has had his say and has silenced his critics in style. Royal Challengers Bangalore will now definitely be looking at retaining the big man, after his incredible showing in Bangladesh.