NCL Begins Today
Rajshahi start as firm favourites
Rajshahi are firm favourites to win their third consecutive National Cricket League which gets underway in three different venues across the country today.
The holders, who will face Sylhet at the Shamsul Huda Stadium in Jessore in the opening round, were in their elements and executed their game plan perfectly to win the previous two editions of the country’s only first-class competition.
Taking a big first innings lead and then going for the win was the tactic they adopted in the last season and it paid a reach dividend as they won just three matches out of the eight, yet went on to win the title.
Jahirul Islam, Sohrawardi Shuvo and Naeem Islam will be sorely missed due to their commitment with the Tigers. However, Farhad Hossain, who scored 797 runs at an average of 56.92 last year, could provide a healthy boost to the Rajshahi’s batting line-up along with veteran Anisur Rahman and all-rounders Nasir Hossain and Farhad Reza.
The overall bowling of Rajshahi is also strong enough, with left-arm spinners Saqlain Sajib and Sanjamul Islam along with pacemen Shubhashish Ray, Delwar Hossain and leg-spinner Sabbir Rahman in their fold.
Though there was a fear in Rajshahi’s mind, since Rangpur became the seventh division in the country earlier this year, they heaved a sigh of relief as late in August the Bangladesh cricket Board confirmed both the divisions will remain integrated at least for this season. If it would not have happened Rajshahi would have lost a good number of their players.
Chittagong, who were runners-up last year, have a solid batting line-up with Nafees Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Nazimuddin, Faisal Hossain, Gazi Salauddin and Mahbubul Karim in their squad, who could tear the bowling attack of any side to shreds.
To repeat last year’s performance or to go one step further, Chittagong will have to heavily depend on their batsmen, and the responsibility will certainly lie with Faisal, Aftab and Nafees. Faisal was second highest run-getter last year with 880 runs having struck two centuries in eight games, averaging 58.66 with a healthy strike rate of 70.2.
Dhaka should be the most dominant and successful divisional side simply because of their big name players. Despite the presence of big name players Dhaka finished third last season.
Mohammad Ashraful, the biggest star of Dhaka, is set to play from the opening game after he was dropped from the national squad. Shubhagata Hom had averaged 60.10 in his seven innings with a top score of 166 not out.
Marshall Ayub, amassed 427 runs with four fifties while Shamsur Rahman, Uttam Sarker and Nazimuddin Mintu all made useful runs when it mattered. Mohammad Sharif took 41 wickets while Talha Jubair captured 30. Dhaka also have veteran and evergreen Mohammad Rafique at their disposal.
In the 2007-08 season when Khulna won the NCL title for the second time, they did it without Habibul Bashar, Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Sakib al Hasan, Abdur Razzak, Tushar Imran and Syed Rasel.
This year also Khulna will have to do without them as they head for another NCL campaign with only Tushar and Rasel. Sahagir Hossain, Dollar Mahmud and Robiul Islam will complement the duo.
Barisal surprised everyone two years ago as they came close to winning the title. However, last year Barisal only managed to win two games and failed to qualify for the second round.
Sylhet will have the services of Alok Kapali, Rajin Saleh, Nazmul Hossain, Enamul Haque Jr and Tapash Baishya to name a few. Even after having so many big name players Sylhet had to remain winless in their last 25 games spanning almost four years. They only managed to draw 11 games during the peiod.
Teams
Rajshahi: Khaled Masud, Anisur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman, Farhad Reza, Farhad Hossain, Dhiman Gosh, Nasir Hossain, Saqlain Shajib, Sunjamul Islam, Shubashish Ray, Mizanur Rahman, Hamidul Islam Himel, Alauddin Babu, Sajidul Islam
Chittagong: Nafees Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Aftab Ahmed, Faisal Hossain, Mahbubul Karim, Gazi Salauddin, Nazmul Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan, Mominul Hoque, Kazi Kamrul Islam,
Tareq Aziz, Sazzadul Hoque, Rezaul Karim, Irfan Shukkur
Dhaka: Rony Talukder, Uttam Kumar Sharker, Shamsur Rahman, Mohammad Ashraful, Marshal Ayub, Shuvogoto Hom Chowdhury, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Md. Sharif, Ellius Sunny, Talha Zubaer, Nur Hossain, Mahbub Alam, Anamul Hoque, Nadif Chowdhury
Khulna: Dollar Mahmud, Syed Rasel, Robiul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Murad Khan, Farid Uddin Masud, Taposh Gosh, Sahagir Hossain, Md. Mithun, Tushar Imran, Nazmus Sadat, Nizam Uddin, Md. Aslam Ali, Showummo Sharker
Barisal: Shahin Hossain, Hannan Sharkar, Nasiruddin Faruk, Tariqul Islam, Asif Ahmad, Fazle Rabbi Mahmud, Arafat Salauddin, Shafaq-Al-Jabir, Monir Hossain Khan, Shohag Gazi, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Iftekhar Nayeem, Md. Shojib, Mohiuddin Balal
Sylhet: Alok Kapali, Enamul Hoaque Jr, Golam Mabud Shishir, Rajin Salah, Imtiaz Hossain, Ahmed Siddikur Rahman, Saikat Ali, Tanvir Haider Khan, Sayem Alam Rizvi, Shaker Ahmed, Nazmul Hossain, Tapash Baishya, Abul Hasan, Abu Zahid Chowdhury
