Rangpur Riders, Comilla Victorians, Fortune Barisal and Chittagong Challengers—none of the four teams in the playoffs in this year’s BPL can be called a surprise in that sense. If you look for the best team of BPL on paper, the names of these four teams will come to the top. According to many, there may have been Khulna Tigers or Sylhet Strikers. But in the end, the best four possible teams made it to the playoffs.
The fight is now to make it to the finals. Chittagong and Barisal will play an eliminator match at Mirpur Sherebangla Stadium tomorrow, the team that loses in this match, their BPL journey is over. Rangpur and Comilla will play the first qualifier match at night. The winners of the match between the two teams will get the ticket to the final as the first team. The losing team will play the second qualifier against the winner of the eliminator match on February 28.
Who will win the battle of the all-rounders?
The first qualifier match can be called the ‘battle of all-rounders’. Both teams are packed with local and foreign all-rounders. The batting lineups of both the teams are therefore long enough. The batsmen of both the teams have the courage to bat aggressively after coming to the crease due to having a long batting lineup behind.
Take the case of Rangpur. With a bunch of all-rounders in the team, Shakib Al Hasan was not in the best rhythm at the beginning of the BPL, but the franchise did not have much of a problem. They have another spin bowling all-rounder of the national team, Sheikh Mehdi Hasan. The ball has been consistent since the beginning of BPL. He has been on fire in the last few matches with the bat. Mehdi scored 158 runs with 15 wickets at a strike rate of 153.
On the other hand, Shakib has scored 249 runs without batting in the first few matches, that too at a strike rate of 168! And with the ball in hand, his victim is 17 wickets. This is what the locals said. New Zealanders Jimmy Neesham, Dwayne Pretorius are playing for Rangpur. Neesham has already won the team a match in all-round performance. Rangpur did not need Pretorius’ batting yet. Another all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has joined the Rangpur camp before the play-offs to increase his strength.
Comilla is not far behind. Moeen Ali, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell—these three will be at the top of the list of the best all-rounders in the T20 world. Like the last two seasons, Comilla will trust their experience in the knock out matches.West Indies ODI pacer Matthew Ford is also adding strength to Comilla. This pacer is very consistent with the new ball. He has 10 wickets in 8 matches. Ford won an incredible match against Fortune Barisal with the bat. It is not easy to beat these four foreigners Comilla with local Rishad Hossain.
Fight For Survival :
On one side, Toitambour Fortune Barisal with experience and confidence, on the other side, Balian Chittagong Challengers with foreign power. Now wait to see who will have the last laugh in the eliminator match. However, Barisal’s chances of being tested in international cricket like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin are higher on paper.
The team’s foreigners are also in great rhythm. Kyle Myers of West Indies is known for his explosive batting in the top order. His swing bowling with the new ball is also very effective. Another West Indian Obed McCoy is also doing well, taking 9 wickets in 5 matches. South African star cricketer David Miller is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka this morning to strengthen Barisal even more.
Chittagong will look to young opener Tanjid Hasan who is in great form. Tanjid’s 382 runs with a century and two fifties. Apart from this, Sri Lankan opener Aviska Fernando is returning. Chittagong will look to Romario Shepherd to storm the end. However, they will suffer from the injury of the main bowler Shahidul Islam (11 wickets in 11 matches). He was knocked out of the tournament due to a knee injury in the last match of the league stage. Let’s see how Chittagong can handle such a big shock before the knock out match.