Combined effort and relentless hard work by the not-so-famed domestic cricketers helped Dhaka Division win the National Cricket League title, said coach Wahidul Gani on Sunday. Dhaka were confirmed of at least five bonus points against Khulna in their ongoing match at Cox’s Bazar with two days left, which enabled them to go bey ond the reach of their nearest rivals Rajshahi.Wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan struck a century on the second day to lift Dhaka from 96-5 to 252 all out in the first innings, which gave them a slender nine-run lead and ensured two batting bonus points in the process.
‘I think that is the way everything went for us in the whole tournament,’ Dhaka’s coach Gani told New Age over phone.
‘Throughout the NCL every individual contributed on one or other occasion helping the side fulfil the mission. We kept faith with 12 cricketers until the last game when we decided to field three reserve players.’
Gani added that in the bowling department Shuvagoto Hom had shown tremendous improvement as an off-spinner, leg-spinner Nur Hossain brought the breakthroughs regularly despite being expensive, while Nazmul Apu utilised the condition well.
Left-arm spinner Apu is the second highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets, while Nur picked up 21 wickets so far and batting all-rounder Hom sent down 120.3 overs for his 12 wickets repaying faith reposed on him by the management.
According to Gani, Dhaka’s batting revolved around opener Abdul Mazid and Rony Talukder with Hom and Taibur Parvez and to some extent Nurul Hasan making their contributions more often.
‘To be honest it is very early to comment about the batsmen as they were not tested against quality fast bowling at any stage of the tournament,’ said Gani. ‘But their approach and determination were satisfying,’ he added.
Dhaka skipper Mohammad Sharif added that it was a personal milestone for him and thanked his team-mates for holding the momentum from the beginning in order to clinch the championship after five seasons.
‘We did not have lot of star players, so we knew if we want to achieve anything we need everyone to contribute,’ said Sharif.
‘I am extremely thankful to make it happen for Dhaka,’ said the 30-year-old pace bowler.
-With New Age input
