31 Months After Last Big Bash League Match, Nicholas Pooran Among 6 Batters For BBL 13 Overseas Draft

Former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran could return to the Big Bash League 31 months after representing Melbourne Stars in the 10th season of the competition. Having made himself available for BBL 13 overseas draft, Pooran should be able to find a team on the back of his solid T20 returns of late.

For the unversed, the overseas draft was introduced last year in order to attract A-list overseas cricketers to the competition. In the past, BBL had been severely criticized for not attracting bigger names.

Pooran’s one and only BBL stint was decent in terms of numbers. While he would’ve wanted to score more than 127 runs in five innings, a strike rate of 169.33 was worthy of admiration. A knock of 65 (26) against Sydney Sixers remains one of the fastest BBL half-centuries till date.

Speaking of his recent performances, Pooran scored an outstanding century (137* off 55 balls) with the help of 13 sixes and 10 fours in the recently concluded Major League Cricket 2023 final to lead MI New York to a title win.

With Stars having the opportunity to make the first pick in the overseas draft, they would surely be pondering over selecting one of their players from the past.

Nicholas Pooran Among 6 Batters For BBL 13 Overseas Draft

Apart from Pooran, former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, veteran New Zealand batter Colin Munro, former England batter Alex Hales, South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw and uncapped England batter Laurie Evans have also registered for the draft. With each one of these familiar names having participated in the BBL previously, their availability will play a huge part in the final decision.

Since there is no auction process in the BBL, salary brackets for players is pre-defined. Platinum category players will earn A$420,000 (it was A$340,000 last year) this year onwards. However, they will only get this amount if they make themselves available for the full season. The amount will be reduced to A$400,000 for 10 matches, A$380,000 for nine and A$380,000 for less than nine matches.

Expected to be in the platinum category, Pooran would be up for sale among other teams if Stars don’t show interest in him. Scheduled to take place on September 3 (live broadcast on Fox Sports), the below mentioned order will be followed during the draft process:

1) Melbourne Stars

2) Adelaide Strikers

3) Hobart Hurricanes

4) Melbourne Renegades

5) Sydney Thunder

6) Sydney Sixers

7) Brisbane Heat

8) Perth Scorchers

The gold, silver and bronze category players will get A$300,000, A$200,000 and A$100,000 respectively. The amount of these categories is fixed regardless of the number of games. There are four rounds in the draft where CA decided the pecking order by a lottery system.

For Round 3 (Gold + Silver), the order will be reversed. It is to be noted that each team can sign a maximum of three and a minimum of two overseas players. Furthermore, they have the right to retain one of their players regardless of the draft order.

How many West Indian players participated in BBL 12?

All-rounders Andre Russell and Akeal Hosein were the only two West Indian players to have participated in BBL 12. Both of them represented Melbourne Renegades but had to leave the tournament midway to fulfill other T20 commitments.

Big Bash League 2022-23 had been a two-month-long tournament which makes it tough to seek a contemporary player’s commitment. Pooran didn’t travel down under last season because of his stint for MI Emirates in International League T20. Although the tournament has been made considerably shorter for the next season, it will still clash with SA20 League and ILT20.