The recently-concluded first edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 had many controversies, yet to be cleared, and though it was widely believed the cricketing circle that the tournament will be a big stage for the local cricketers, little did it happen.
The tournament began with the Dhaka Gladiators skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza claiming to have been approached by a former cricketer for spot-fixing which eventually culminated in the arrest of a Pakistani citizen, Sajid Khan, with important information of two Pakistani players found in his cell phone inbox, suspected to be a match-fixer.
If initiatives were taken by the authorities earlier, the fixing issue probably wouldn’t have gone so far and damaged the BPL’s image. But then again, if the spot-fixing issue was not enough, the governing council of the BPL made sure they make a mockery of the rules they laid out.
The confusion over who will play in the semi-finals and misinterpretations of the bylaws for once put the tournament at risk. Barisal Burners celebrated their win against Chittagong Kings which, everyone was told, took them to the semis. Then it was learnt that actually it was the Kings, not the Burners, who will play the semis. And lastly a mid-night drama again brought Barisal back into the semis.
If it wasn’t the High Court who rejected the Chittagong Kings’ plea to stop the final, by now the BPL would have become quite a circus, not to mention the comments and statements from some BPL personnel, when they put blame on each other, entertained most.
The BPL started off with a blast with Chris Gayle slamming a century in the very first game. The local cricketers were not to be seen performing as expected but slowly they did, that too very little.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board owes a huge thanks to Sakib al Hasan for the way he rose to the challenge of the big event. The world number one all-rounder’s brilliant innings in the semi-final will be a remembered for a long time though he ended up on the losing side in the final.
Sakib’s first T20 half-century not only kept Khulna Royal Bengals hopes alive but also saved the tournament’s image. Along with scoring 288 runs, the left-armer also bagged 17 wickets in the tournament to win the player of the tournament player award.
Apart from Sakib, the other positive aspect of the tournament was the left-arm spinners. Elias Sunny, the local player of the tournament, led the group with 17 wickets but Saqlain Sajib, Arafat Sunny and Enamul Haque Jr showed their quality and capability on the big stage.
The foreign recruits of the franchises did not surprise anybody with the fingers going towards the Pakistanis mostly.
Azhar Mahmood, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed and Abdul Razzaq are among the few big names who played in the tournament and performed mostly as the locals just looked on, not to mention the arrival of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal made the list even interesting.
BPL also saw a hat-trick by paceman Sami while Nazir and Mahmood seemed to have become younger as they played important roles in the Gladiators’ victory in the final of the BPL.
Despite the batting and bowling contributions from the Pakistani cricketers, none in the tournament could cross the record set by Gayle in just five matches he played.
Gayle topped the charts for most sixes, most centuries scored (two) and the highest individual score in an innings. The Caribbean not only entertained the very limited crowds but took the BPL to a different height by his big hitting.
Most of the matches in Dhaka could hardly bring the crowds at the stadium, and it was only Afridi’s arrival in the semis which saw a full-house.
Mushfiqur Rahim, the Duronto Rajshahi skipper, deserved a huge applause as his team, which started with two defeats, turned around to reach the semis, but he too suddenly became a contoversial figure at the cricket board for his comments about the BPL. BPL also saw a hat-trick by paceman Sami while Nazir and Mahmood seemed to have become younger as they played important roles in the Gladiators’ victory in the final of the BPL.
Despite the batting and bowling contributions from the Pakistani cricketers, none in the tournament could cross the record set by Gayle in just five matches he played.
Gayle topped the charts for most sixes, most centuries scored (two) and the highest individual score in an innings. The Caribbean not only entertained the very limited crowds but took the BPL to a different height by his big hitting.
Most of the matches in Dhaka could hardly bring the crowds at the stadium, and it was only Afridi’s arrival in the semis which saw a full-house.
Mushfiqur Rahim, the Duronto Rajshahi skipper, deserved a huge applause as his team, which started with two defeats, turned around to reach the semis, but he too suddenly became a contoversial figure at the cricket board for his comments about the BPL.
Though it was BPL’s first edition unlike the performance and dominance of the local cricketers, it did not lack any drama. BPL could go a long distance if matters are handled properly, otherwise it might just end up as another tournament in Bangladesh.
-With New Age input
