Bangladesh Premier League side Fortune Barishal benched their newest player for the season final, days after signing him just for this match.
Barishal made the final after winning Qualifier 1 by nine wickets against the Chittagong Kings on February 3, thanks to Mohammad Ali's 5-24 and opener Towhid Hridoy's quickfire unbeaten 82.
The following day, the franchise announced that Kiwi all-rounder Jimmy Neesham had been signed, and had arrived in Dhaka – for one match alone, the final.
Since Barishal signed Neesham between Qualifier 1 and the final, it was expected that the seam-bowling all-rounder would be a part of the playing XI for the summit clash. But when the teams were announced at the toss, Barishal had an unchanged lineup from Qualifier 1, meaning they had stuck with Dawid Malan, Kyle Mayers, Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Ali as their four overseas players.
Neesham remained on the bench, seemingly making the journey to Bangladesh just to cheer on his new side. Suggestions pre-game had been that he would come in for Nabi, who has had a poor BPL with the bat despite his seven useful wickets with ball in hand.
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Neesham was recently part of the Janakpur Bolts in the inaugural Nepal Premier League, winning the title with them. He was the league's fifth-highest run-scorer, with 247 runs at an average of 35.3 and strike rate of 196, besides chipping in with seven wickets in nine matches.
20 days after lifting the NPL title, he was off to South Africa to represent Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, but once the team did not qualify for the playoffs, Neesham was free to sign with Barishal for the BPL final.
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Barishal have used 21 different players this season, with Mohammad Imran (Pakistan), Mohammad Ali (Pakistan), James Fuller (England), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan), Jahandad Khan (Pakistan), Kyle Mayers (West Indies), Dawid Malan (England), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) and Faheem Ashraf (Pakistan) the nine overseas players to have made it onto the field for them.
Besides Neesham, Barishal have also counted Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka, South Africa's Nandre Burger, New Zealand's Adam Milne and Afghanistan's Noor Ahmad among their squad at various points before and during this season.
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