BBL Draft 2024-25: On Sunday, the Big Bash League (BBL) Draft for the 2024-25 season took place in Melbourne, setting the stage for an exciting upcoming cricket season. The 14th edition of the BBL is slated to run from December 1, 2024, to January 27, 2025.

The eight franchises—Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers, Adelaide Strikers, and Sydney Thunder—finalized their squads during the draft.

Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager, Big Bash Leagues, said: “The League congratulates and welcomes the 49 overseas players recruited across the eight clubs via the Drafts. The Big Bash remains a destination of choice for the world’s best players, as reflected by the calibre of nominations received and the players recruited today. We thank all players and their agents who put themselves forward for this year’s Drafts.”

He added: “We also congratulate and thank our clubs on the preparation for the event and the quality of lists they have compiled, and to Seven and Foxtel for their hard work in bringing the Drafts to life.”

Here’s a breakdown of the draft results and the finalized squads for each team after the BBL Draft 2024-25:

BBL Draft 2024-25 Recap

Round 1 (Platinum Picks Only):

Melbourne Stars: Ben Duckett
Melbourne Renegades: James Vince
Adelaide Strikers: Laurie Evans
Sydney Thunder: Lockie Ferguson
Hobart Hurricanes: Shai Hope
Sydney Sixers: Jamie Overton
Brisbane Heat: Colin Munro
Perth Scorchers: Finn Allen

Round 2 (Platinum & Gold Picks):

Melbourne Stars: Tom Curran
Melbourne Renegades: Jacob Bethell
Adelaide Strikers: Ollie Pope
Sydney Thunder: Chris Jordan
Hobart Hurricanes: Sam Billings
Sydney Sixers: Akeal Hosein
Brisbane Heat: Paul Walter
Perth Scorchers: Passed

Round 3 (Gold & Silver Picks):

Melbourne Stars: Usama Mir
Melbourne Renegades: Tim Seifert
Adelaide Strikers: Fabian Allen
Sydney Thunder: Sherfane Rutherford
Hobart Hurricanes: Passed
Sydney Sixers: Passed
Brisbane Heat: Passed
Perth Scorchers: Matthew Hurst

Round 4 (Silver & Bronze Picks):

Melbourne Stars: Passed
Melbourne Renegades: Passed
Adelaide Strikers: Passed
Sydney Thunder: Passed
Hobart Hurricanes: Rishad Hossain
Sydney Sixers: Jafer Chohan
Brisbane Heat: Tom Alsop
Perth Scorchers: Keaton Jennings

Full Squads After The BBL 2024-25 Draft:

Adelaide Strikers: Fabian Allen (West Indies), James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Chris Lynn, Jamie Overton (England), Lloyd Pope, Ollie Pope (England), Alex Ross, D’Arcy Short, Matt Short, Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald

Brisbane Heat: Tom Alsop (England), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vidler, Paul Walter (England)

Hobart Hurricanes: Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Peter Hatzoglou, Shai Hope (West Indies), Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh), Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan (England), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim, Mac Wright

Melbourne Renegades: Jacob Bethell (England), Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Laurie Evans (England), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Nathan Lyon, Fergus O’Neill, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert (New Zealand), Will Sutherland, Jon Wells, Adam Zampa

Melbourne Stars: Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran (England), Ben Duckett (England), Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Usama Mir (Pakistan), Joel Paris, Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster

Perth Scorchers: Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst (England), Josh Inglis, Keaton Jennings (England), Matt Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner

Sydney Sixers: Sean Abbott, Jafer Chohan (England), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, James Vince (England)

Sydney Thunder: Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings (England), Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), William Salzmann, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner

BBL Draft 2024-25: Top Picks for Each Team

Adelaide Strikers: Alex Carey
Brisbane Heat: Marnus Labuschagne
Hobart Hurricanes: Shai Hope
Melbourne Renegades: Nathan Lyon
Melbourne Stars: Glenn Maxwell
Perth Scorchers: Mitch Marsh
Sydney Sixers: Steve Smith
Sydney Thunder: David Warner

ALSO READ: Most 5 Wicket Hauls In International Cricket

Oval Invincibles emerged as the ultimate champions in The Hundred 2024 becoming the first franchise to win the title in a row. The Southern Brave won the inaugural season of The Hundred in 2021 and Trent Rockets took the trophy home in the second season.

The Invincibles became the first team to win back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. The women’s team of Oval Invincibles also became the first to win the Women’s Hundred twice in 2021 and 2023.

Let us have a look at the teams who became the first to win two titles across various T20 leagues in the world.

SA20–Sunrisers Eastern Cape

The inaugural season of the South Africa T20 League was launched in 2023 and only two editions have been played so far. Sunrisers Eastern Cape emerged victorious on both the occasions.

LPL – Jaffna franchise

Jaffna Stallions won the maiden Lanka Premier League season in 2020. However, the owners renamed the team as Jaffna Kings soon after the title win. Jaffna Kings went on to win the 2021 season as well. They won on both the occasions by defeating Galle Gladiators in the finals.

PSL – Quetta Gladiators

Quetta Gladiators won the first edition of the Pakistan Super League in 2016. Peshawar Zalmis, who were the runners-up in the previous season, went on to win the second instalment and Islamabad won the third one. However, Quetta Gladiators reigned supreme in the fourth tournament and became the first team to win two titles in the PSL.

BBL – Perth Scorchers

Perth Scorchers ended up as runners-up in the first two seasons of Australia’s Big Bash League. The finally broke the jinx and went on to clinch the titles back-to-back in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons to become the first team to achieve the feat of winning two or more BBL editions.

Also Read: The Hundred: IPL Players Who’d Become Superstars

IPL – Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings won their maiden Indian Premier League title in 2010 by beating Mumbai Indians in the final. In the following year, they successfully defended the title by defeating Rajasthan Royals in the final, thus becoming the first IPL team to clinch the title twice. 

In this article, we mention the 5 lesser-known facts about Indian Star Batswomen Smriti Mandhana

Indian StarWomen Batsmen Smriti Mandhana was born on July 18, 1996, in Mumbai. She made her debut in T20 International in 2013 against Bangladesh. Since then, she has won matches for India many times on her own and has come to the fore as the pillar of the Indian women’s team. Recently, under her captaincy, Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) won its first title in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Currently, she is playing the home series against South Africa and has hit 2 consecutive centuries.

Smriti Mandhana Recognized by Double Century:

Smriti’s talent blossomed early. At nine years old she was selected for the Maharashtra Under-15 team. But her rise continued when, at 16, she smashed a phenomenal 224 runs in just 150 balls for Maharashtra U-19 against Gujarat in the West Zone tournament. This feat remains the highest score by an Indian woman in a one-day match at any level. Interestingly, the bat she used for this double century was a gift to her brother from the legendary Rahul Dravid.

Youngest Captain and Global Recognition: 

Smriti Mandhana’s leadership qualities were evident early on. At just 22, she became the youngest Indian T20 captain, leading the team in 2017. Her talent was also global. She was the only player from India to be named to the ICC Women’s Team of the Year in 2016, which is evidence of her continuing talent.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Pat Cummins Creates History By Taking Two Consecutive Hatricks

Playing in the International League:

Smriti Mandhana became the second Indian cricket player to sign a contract with the Brisbane Heat for the Women’s Big Bash League, after Harmanpreet Kaur. Afterwards, Veda Krishnamurthy became a member of the Australian League.

A Sporting Family: 

Cricket runs in Smriti’s blood. Her father played cricket at the district level for Sangli, Maharashtra, and her brother represented Maharashtra at the under-16 level. This early exposure to the sport undoubtedly nurtured her talent.

Beyond Cricket: 

Despite her dedication to cricket, Smriti enjoys other things She is a talented dancer and an avid dog lover. This well-rounded personality makes her a role model not just for aspiring cricketers but for young women in general. She is an inspiration to girls from outside who want to be like her.