The 2017-18 BPL season, also known as BPL 5 or AKS BPL 2017 powered by Shah Cement (for sponsorship reasons), is the fifth season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the top level professional Twenty20 cricket franchise league in Bangladesh. The competition will be organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and features seven teams from seven different cities.The season began on November 4, and expected to end on 12 December, 2017, with the defending champion, Dhaka Dynamites playing against newbies Sylhet Sixers in the first game at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Barisal Bulls were excluded from the tournament, after failing financial terms and conditions.[1] This year, Pakistani players, except retired and non-centrally-contracted will be unavailable in the tournament till 17th November due to their domestic cricket league.
The 2017 BPL draft was held on 16 September, 2017, where a team could purchase 7 local players and 2 overseas players at least. A new rule has been implemented whereby a team can include up to 2 to 5 overseas players in a match instead of till 4.
A total of 66 players were signed in the event including 51 locals and 15 from abroad. Rangpur Riders signed the most players reaching a tally of 16. The first local and overseas player call went to Rajshahi Kings as the picked Mustafizur Rahman and Usama Mir.