James Neesham has made a decision to stay in Bangladesh for the whole Bangladesh Premier League (BPL 2026) season, which is taking place at the moment. The star all-rounder was initially part of the New Zealand team that was supposed to go to India and play a series of five T20I matches from January 21 to January 31.
The series in India is the last test run for New Zealand before next month’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
On January 19, James Neesham’s Rajshahi Warriors coach Hannan Sarkar let it be known that the New Zealand all-rounder has already shown his willingness to remain in Bangladesh for BPL 2025-26, thus denying his country the benefit of his services for the five-match T20I series in India.
James Neesham’s choice of BPL prior to his national call-up during T20 World Cup season
On Monday, January 19, i.e., just about two days before the commencement of New Zealand’s five-match T20I series in India, Rajshahi Warriors head coach Hannan Sarkar has revealed on social media that all-rounder James Neesham is going to be a part of Bangladesh BPL 2025-26 season.
Hannan Sarkar mentioned that Neesham wanted to stay for BPL, thus giving preference to the Bangladesh T20 league over New Zealand colors for the India tour, particularly with the T20 World Cup around the corner.
The Rajshahi Warriors head coach also suggested that Neesham might not have come to the same conclusion of sticking around in Bangladesh if he were playing the BPL 2025-26 season for another franchise.
Initially, Neesham was on the list for the India tour.
The coach elaborated that Neesham’s choice is not only a great victory for Rajshahi Warriors but also a piece of good news for the whole BPL ecosystem and Bangladesh cricket in general.
It must be mentioned that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) took Neesham and had him as part of a 15-player New Zealand squad for the forthcoming five-match T20I series in India. The cricketer’s last appearance for the New Zealand team was in November during a game against West Indies held in Dunedin.
At this time, the NZC has not yet issued a public announcement concerning the probable unavailability of James Neesham.
Neesham in BPL 2025-26
So far, Neesham has only participated in four out of his team’s 10 league matches for the BPL 2025-26 season. He has claimed three wickets through four innings at an expensive bowling average of 31.66. The left-hander has scored a mere 30 runs with the bat at an unflattering average of 10 and a mediocre strike rate of 107.14.
Even though he was not at his best, the Rajshahi Warriors franchise topped the league stage of the BPL 2025-26 season, winning eight out of ten matches and recording a strong NRR of 0.335.
James Neesham along with his fellow Rajshahi Warriors players will face the Chattogram Royals in the first qualifier of the BPL 2025-26 season. The match is scheduled to take place at the Sher-e Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday, January 20, starting at 5:30 PM IST