Twenty-two national cricketers have been bracketed in the national pool for this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday made the announcement, stating that the group comprises of players who have played for the Tigers between January 1 and July 31 this year.
Each Premier League club would be eligible to pick a maximum of three players from the pool, a move that has often been quietly criticised by fast bowlers who are included in it.
Robiul Islam, who played just one Test match at Lord’s in May, is among seven fast bowlers including Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain and Shafiul Islam.
It was observed in the last few seasons that most of the pace bowlers, barring someone like Mashrafe, had a hard time finding a club since some of them filled up the three slots with top-order batsmen, all-rounders or left-arm spinners.
But the big dilemma for these pace bowlers is the price tag that they come with. Most of the clubs are mediocre and work with a limited budget, hence are unable to acquire these fast bowlers. One fast bowler last year had to play for Tk 2 lakh when his Tigers teammates were paid much more by the clubs, even though they were in the pool.
Another factor that goes against these pacers is the pitches that Premier League matches are played on. Most clubs build their gameplan around spinners and batsmen winning games for them so the need for a really expensive fast bowler goes out of the window.
As if these factors were not bad enough, the decision to allow two foreign players in a Premier League match could spell more doom for Shahadat and co.
Shafiul Islam, as an exception, was wonderful for Bangladesh Biman last season, culminating in his rise to the national side. He will probably stay with the national flag carrier and that is due more to his all-round abilities more than anything else.
But this could all change if the BCB can provide with sporting pitches, giving clubs enough reason to invest on a good paceman but unless that happens, the likes of Shahadat Hossain, Robiul and Rubel Hossain could be in the news come November for not finding a club.
The most coveted domestic competition is scheduled to kick off with the Twenty20 tournament from November 27 and the 50-overs battle is scheduled to get underway from December 8.
The two-day inter-club players’ transfer for the Premier League will take place in between November 8 to 11.
NATIONAL POOL
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdur Razzak, Mahmudullah Riyad, Rubel Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Shafiul Islam, Jahurul Islam, Zunaed Siddiqui, Nazmul Hossain, Syed Rasel, Faisal Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Rokibul Hasan, Robiul Islam, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Shahadat Hossain.