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Bangabandhu BPL starts today


Published : 10 Dec 2019 09:18 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 07:17 PM

Following a grand opening ceremony, the on field action of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) will start from today (Wednesday) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. The special edition of the BPL Twenty20, organized to mark the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is all set to raise its curtain.

Two matches are scheduled to take place today, in the inaugural match Chattogram Challengers will take on Sylhet Thunder at 1:00 pm. The other match is at the evening, with Comilla Warriors and Rangpur Riders facing each other, scheduled to start at 6:30 pm. Chattogram Challengers come into this new BPL campaign hoping to fare much better than in recent years under English head coach Paul Nixon.

The Challengers have a trio of strong local players in Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes and Rubel Hossain but their big name signing was Chris Gayle who has an outstanding record in their competition but the Universe Boss will only be available in the second half of the tournament.

Sylhet Thunder have little reputation in this tournament with their best finishing position being third in 2013 and they will be coached by South African Herschelle Gibbs. Similar to the Challengers, the Thunder spent a chunk of their budget in West Indian stars and while Sherfane Rutherford and Sheldon Cottrell are on international duty, they can count on Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher for some fireworks with the bat. They also have a solid core of local talent also with Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain and Nazmul Islam as their key players.

In the second match reigning champions, Cumilla Warriors will take on Rangpur Rangers. Comilla Warriors will have South African Ottis Gibson as their head coach. They defeated Dhaka Dynamites in the finals last year to win their second title in the four editions they have participated in. Dawid Malan, Kusal Parera and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are some of the big-name players in their side. Rangpur Rangers will be coached by Kiwi Mark O’Donnell and they can count on Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed to form a formidable bowling attack. They will have high hopes form players like Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi and Cameron Delport to get them far into the competition.

So the stage is all set for the seventh edition of the BPL to start. Although, there are some on and off field mismanagement taking place ahead of this BPL, the fans and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will hope to witness an enthralling tournament once the action gets underway on the pitch.