The inaugural players draft of the Big Cricket League was held on November 30th (Saturday) in Mumbai featuring six teams, who picked 36 former international stars in their teams. 

The league commissioner, Dilip Vengsarkar unveiled the Big Cricket League Season-1 winning trophy with all the six franchise owners. Bollywood celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Rasha Thadani and Supreme court lawyer, Sana Raees Khan are among the franchise owners in the inaugural season of Big Cricket League. 

Big Cricket League, set to begin on December 12th, 2024, in Surat, will feature six teams – Northern Challengers, UP Brij Stars, Rajasthan Regals, MP Tigers, Mumbai Marines & Southern Spartans. Each team picked a squad comprising of maximum 18 players including six former internationals, six former Indian first-class cricketers & 10 local aspiring cricketers. 

The first season of Big Cricket League will feature stars like Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Shikhar Dhawan, Imran Tahir, Yusuf Pathan and Tillakaratne Dilshan leading their respective teams. For the first time ever, local aspiring cricketers will get a chance to play alongside these legends. 

Herschelle Gibbs, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Pawan Negi, Upul Tharanga, Fidel Edwards & Stuart Binny were among the other former international cricketers picked by teams during the BCL Draft.  Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain & League Commissioner, said, “This league has the potential to become one of the biggest in the world & certainly in India. The idea of bringing local cricketers and former international stars is unique, inspiring & promising.”

Rudra Pratap Singh, League President, said, “The successful completion of the BCL draft gives me immense pride & confidence ahead of the first season. Franchise owners have done a great job in assembling six high-quality teams and audiences across the world can expect cracking cricket.”

Annirudh Chauhan, CEO and Co-Founder, said, “A lot of hard work has been done by the BCL team in the last 10-12 months’ time to find the best local aspiring talent across the country. For local aspiring talents, playing with the most popular former international stars in the same team is once in a life-time opportunity and they will have great experience playing alongside them.”  Puneet Singh, Chief Patron of Big Cricket League, said, “The dream of bringing together former international stars & local aspiring cricketers is finally coming true. A successful players draft promises a top class first season of Big Cricket League and we cannot wait for it to begin.”