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bpl team – baji999 com – Mashrafe still going strong in BPL

On Tuesday night at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Bangladesh’s star wicketkeeper batsman Liton Das was at his sublime best.

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Comilla Victorians opener Liton looked unfazed by whatever the bowlers from Sylhet Strikers had to offer, as he kept stroking the ball all around the ground and eased into his first half-century of the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

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The right-hander then basically killed off the game in the 14th over bowled by off-spinner Sharifullah as he cleared the boundary ropes thrice in that over, over long-on, deep mid-wicket and square leg, and topped it off with a four from the last ball.

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Liton’s belligerence yielded 24 runs for Comilla and brought the equation down to 24 runs from 36 balls.

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In the next over, Sylhet skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza brought himself on the attack. At 39 years of age, Mashrafe has long lost his once lethal pace and now almost hobbles during his run-up before bowling at a speed which can be described as ‘slow-medium’ at best.

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Mashrafe, who is currently a part-time cricketer and full-time politician, should not have been any match for Liton, who was batting on 70 off 41 balls.

But the first ball Liton faced in the 15th over, he ended up mistiming his shot and getting caught at mid-off.

Mashrafe didn’t just end there as the wily pacer conceded just two runs from that over, giving his side a sliver of a chance to make a dramatic comeback in the contest.

He then came to bowl his final over of the match in the 17th over. This time, the veteran pacer outfoxed Pakistan’s Khushdil Shah with another slower delivery.

Losing a couple of quick wickets infused panic in the Comilla chase, as in the very next ball Jaker Ali got himself run out while attempting a single that wasn’t there to take.

He knows about the ups and downs of cricket, as he has been playing since 2000. I don’t have enough words to describe how good he really is. I have nothing but respect for him

Imad Wasim, Pakistani all-rounder, Sylhet Strikers

That over also cost just two runs and Mashrafe finished with remarkable figures of 2-19 in his four overs.

In the end, Mashrafe’s late spell wasn’t enough as Comilla went onto win the match by five wickets with an over to spare. But Mashrafe’s spell showed everyone that somehow, someway, an aging Mashrafe is still a more than effective bowler in shorter formats at home conditions.

Mashrafe’s spell on Wednesday was in no way a one-time fluke. The pacer has been consistently picking up wickets while keeping the runs in check in BPL9 so far.

After six matches, Mashrafe is currently at the top of the wicket-takers list in the tournament, with nine wickets in the bag.

Mashrafe’s economy rate of 6.75 is also exemplary, as he has been bowling during the powerplay in every match.

Mashrafe, not surprisingly, has also been brilliant as Sylhet’s captain.

Franchises from Sylhet have always found life difficult at the BPL. But this time, under the leadership of Mashrafe, the Strikers have been dominating the tournament from the very beginning.

Before the defeat against defending champions Comilla, Sylhet won all five of their previous matches in the league and are currently at the top of the points-table.

At the halfway stage of their group phase campaign, Sylhet already have one foot in the knockout stage, and need just two more wins in their remaining six games to book a spot in the qualifiers.

The Sylhet team has been in unison from the start with everyone from the management to the overseas recruits singing praises of Mashrafe as a captain.

Mashrafe, who is yet to retire from One-Day Internationals (ODI), was almost forced into quitting Twenty20 internationals in 2017.

Nearly six years after playing his last T20 for the Tigers, Mashrafe is still proving himself as a more than handy bowler in the format.

Now, is that just an example of how good Mashrafe is as a bowler or is it a reflection of the falling standards of BPL, that is up for debate.

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bpl scores – Bill Gates – Mashrafe’s Sylhet make history in franchise cricket with five consecutive victories

Sylhet dominated Dhaka to seal a five-wicket victory thanks to their Pakistani duo Imad Wasim and Mohammad Harris. 

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Sylhet Strikers created history on Monday as they made it five wins in their five matches in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). With this victory, the Mashrafe-led side became the first-ever franchise team to win five consecutive matches before tasting a defeat. 

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Earlier, four teams bagged four straight victories before they tasted a defeat as a new franchise. Sylhet joined the list with Chennai Super Kings (2008), Hobart Hurricanes (2011), Barbados Tridents (2013) and Jaffna Stallions (2020) with their win over Dhaka on 10 January. 

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On Monday, Sylhet dominated Dhaka to seal a five-wicket victory thanks to their Pakistani duo Imad Wasim and Mohammad Harris. 

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Chasing a modest 129 runs, Sylhet made a bright start. Openers Harris and Shanto built a 52-run partnership in eight overs. 

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Shanto played a sluggish knock of 12 from 20 balls but his partner Harris was the top scorer for the Strikers scoring 44 off just 32 balls. He hit five boundaries and two sixes in his innings. 

Strikers didn’t have to toil much after that. Mushfiqur Rahim played a 25-ball 27-run innings and Imad played another sluggish innings of 11 from 20 balls. 

But Thisara Perrera and Akbar Ali guided the team home with four balls remaining. Both played at a strike rate of more than 190. 

Dhaka’s captain Nasir Hossain picked up two wickets for 19 runs. 

Earlier, Sylhet were asked to bowl first after losing the toss and they made full use of their opportunity and restricted Dhaka to 128 for seven after their allotted 20 overs.

Dhaka were on the backfoot right from the word go. They lost Soumya Sarkar in the very first over for a golden duck.

Much-hyped British batter Robin Das made his debut but he couldn’t show his firepower against Sylhet. He was the second Dhaka batter to be dismissed for a golden duck as he became Imad Wasim’s second victim after the Pakistani all-rounder picked up the wicket of Dilshan Munaweera in the sixth over.

Dhaka were reduced to 51 for four in the tenth over. Skipper Nasir Hossain then played a useful knock of 39 off 30 balls to guide his team past 120. He was accompanied well by Ariful Haque who bagged 20. Nasir hit three boundaries and one maximum in his 39-run innings. 

Imad was the star bowler for Sylhet. He picked up three wickets for only 20 runs from his four overs. Apart from him, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Amir and Nazmul Islam Apu all bagged a wicket each.

Imad Wasim was adjudged the player of the match for his brilliant bowling. 

Sylhet skipper Mashrafe said the confidence is high for the Strikers but they need to keep the momentum in the remaining part of the tournament. 

“It was another fine win, it did get a little tricky in the end, but it was a fine effort from Thisara to get the job done. We did not bat well in the middle period. I feel that this was a typical Chattogram wicket where 150 would have been a good score for sure. The confidence is high, however, it is important for us to carry forward the momentum into the next match and take things as they come,” he said at the post-match presentation. 

Player of the Match Imad credited the whole team for the winning streak. He even thanked the crowd who came all the way from Sylhet.

“Everyone in the team is chipping in, every base is covered so far, but you can’t be relaxed as it is a long tournament with 12 games, need 8 wins and we can’t relax before that. Thanks to the crowd for coming all the way from Sylhet,” he said.

“The last game we saw a couple of times, it was keeping low and spinning, today it was keeping low but not spinning and the plan was to bowl wicket to wicket. The line is important and length is important as well, if you bowl a back of a length, it is not easy for the batter and you need to vary your pace,” Imad added.

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bpl news – A need for growing T20 bowling skills

It was Fortune Barishal skipper Shakib Al Hasan who said that bowlers have not quite turned up at the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), especially during night fixtures where pitches offered big scores.

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As a format, the T20 mindset and culture is still in its primary period. The lack of T20s in the domestic circuit, except the BPL, has been brought up as a key reason for why it is more difficult to bring up players ready for the format.

The batters have found some rhythm and a few bowlers have shown their mettle so far, but as the Chattogram phase begins on Friday – with Chattogram Challengers taking on Fortune Barishal in the day’s opening fixture – the onus will be on the bowlers to respond in kind on wickets where runs are expected.

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Barishal’s Ebadot Hossain talked about the same need for improvement. Although he referred to the quicks, spinners need to get on their game too.

“Chattogram’s wickets are always batting-friendly. The fast bowlers need to improve their skill and bowl intelligently. Given that wickets are friendly for batters, the pacers with more skill will do better compared to others,” Ebadot said while talking to reporters at Chattogram yesterday.

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The national team pacer was not just talking about BPL success. He himself was at the receiving end of a bitter end to Bangladesh’s Asia Cup campaign last year, when he bagged crucial wickets but Sri Lanka targeted him at the death and took him for runs to seize the game away from the Tigers. With ICC wickets providing sporting surfaces at the very least, it is the need of the hour to get accustomed to bowling on batting-friendly surfaces.India recently scored over 400 runs in the third ODI in Chattogram but the Bangladesh bowlers can take valuable lessons from the experience.

Sylhet Strikers skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is the leading wicket-taker with seven wickets in this BPL alongside Al Amin Hossain. Mashrafe has brought his experience and new-ball bowling skills and has not been hit for too many runs. Al Amin though suffered, conceding an economy rate of over nine. Sylhet’s other pace duo Rejaur Rahman Raja and Mohammad Amir are second on the list with six wickets. The freedom to express themselves has not only allowed batters but also the bowlers of Sylhet to shine.

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“Raja bagged four wickets in the first game of the Dhaka phase. Everyone said that although the wicket was good, Raja bowled well. Wickets got better and better after that in Dhaka. Chattogram is always good, so if we can do well on these surfaces, it will help in the upcoming World Cup,” said Ebadot.

When batters were able to show superiority, bowlers were not often on the mark. The yorkers have not come through while slower deliveries have been picked off when the surface has not held up slightly.

“You have to be accurate with your yorkers and slowers,” he reminded, with death-bowling still a headache for the national side.

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Ebadot said he has been working with his Bangladesh teammate and Comilla Victorians pacer Mustafizur Rahman to develop his cutters.

“My strength is to bowl fast and I have the yorker going for me. Along with that I am working on cutters and their accuracy. Mustafizur is good at cutters and I was learning from him. He changed the grip of my slower bouncers and it helped me,” he said.

Working as a unit always works for pacers. Ebadot has Khaled Ahmed in his side. If the pacers can get their execution right in these BPL tracks, it will be the best thing for the national team.

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bpl team – Mashrafe sees silver lining amidst lacklustre BPL

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) newcomers Sylhet Strikers are in terrific form. In the first five days of BPL9, Sylhet had four matches scheduled, all of which they won.

Naturally, skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s leadership is being praised after such sparkling performance of the team.

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However, after Sylhet’s win over Dhaka Dominators on Tuesday, Mashrafe credited the entire team for the brilliant start to their maiden season.

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“Everyone in the team has been trying hard from the get-go. You never know what will happen on the field. We are trying to do right things off the field in hopes that our efforts will reflect on the field. It’s not just about me, it’s about the entire team,” Mashrafe told the media on Tuesday.

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Franchises from Sylhet have never fared well at the BPL. In the second edition, Sylhet Royals had made it to the semifinal, which remains the highest success for a team from the region.

This year, Sylhet roped in Mashrafe as a direct signing before the players’ draft and then assembled a team around him.

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Sylhet began their campaign with an eight-wicket win over Chattogram Challengers, followed it up by a six-wicket win over Fortune Barishal, a five-wicket win over Comilla Victorians and a 62-run victory over Dhaka Dominators.

Four wins in as many games have placed Sylhet at the top of the points-table with eight points.

Meanwhile, the first phase of BPL9 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka ended on Tuesday. The teams are now in Chattogram for the second leg which will begin on 13 January.

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The ninth edition of the tournament has been criticised for its mismanagement, poor umpiring and a lack of star power. However, Mashrafe sees a silver lining amidst all of this as according to the pacer the pitches at the SBNS during the first leg were ideal for T20 cricket, something which was not seen in earlier editions of the league.

“When the wicket is good, playing good cricket becomes easier. The wickets I saw here (SBNS), were excellent. In wickets like these, we can nurture some good cricketers. This is a big positive thing that amidst so much criticism, the action on the ground has been good,” said the 39-year-old pacer.

The group-phase of this year’s BPL does not have the Decision Review System (DRS) technology. Instead, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is using Additional Decision Review System (ADRS), a technology that has proven to be mostly ineffective in helping the third umpire make the right decision.

Questions have been raised on the standard of umpiring as well, with multiple players getting into heated arguments with the umpires on the field.

Mashrafe feels that the umpires have to take responsibility to improve the standard of umpiring, “At the end of the day, some questions still remain. But if the umpires can’t improve their standard, it’s their failure. Umpires can be brought in from other countries. But I would say we need to give our umpires a chance. If they can learn something from all of this, then it would be good.”

“There will be some wrong decisions, that’s bound to happen as there is no snickometer or hotspot. I think the umpires need to make some brave calls, which we see in foreign league or during international matches. The umpires also need to take some steps to set a higher standard.”

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bpl scores – BPL is Mashrafe’s last tournament in cricket career, thinks his father

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is still playing cricket with 7 surgeries. But he is still hotcake in events like BPL-DPL. However, he’s getting aged. The 39-year-old Mashrafe will retire from cricket after this year’s Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), thinks his father Golam Mortaza.

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Father rushes to the stadium to watch his son play in BPL. He still has no lack of enthusiasm to see his son play. But thinking about Mashrafe, his request is to put away the bat-pad-shoe.

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Golam Mortaza said after Mashrafe’s team Sylhet Strikers’ straight fourth win on Tuesday, “Everyone is seeing the condition of his legs. Today in the field he’s struggling. It is not possible to play cricket like this. How long is this possible? I think this should be the end. Old injured leg, struggling. It’s not about strength here.”

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However, he will not give any advice to Mashrafe to quit the game. He believes that Mashrafe understands his own affairs best, “I haven’t talked to him about this yet. As long as he has the strength of mind… he knows very well what is possible and what is not possible. I have nothing to say. If he thinks it is possible, he will continue it, if he doesn’t think it is possible, he will not continue it.”

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Many hope that Mashrafe will work for Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after his playing career. Mashrafe’s father also wants his son’s cricket knowledge to be useful for the country. He added, “We want him to do what he knows best. He can do much better if he works at BCB. I can say it emphatically. Everyone understands that if he works with cricket, he will do very well. I certainly would.”

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