An all-round success

The Bangabandhu T20 Cup posed a lot of challenges for not only organisers but also young, upcoming cricketers along with the seniors of the national side. The consistency of batsmen and bowlers came to the forefront over such a long tournament and it also served notice of the importance of such tournaments to gauge the performance of the crop of players closest to the national team's sphere while also bringing such players into view who can challenge perspectives going forward.

Most importantly, the tournament's performances will provide impetus for the national side's think tank to get things moving in terms of finding their footing in a format where Bangladesh have generally struggled, and form a specialised side for T20s.

The three tons of the tournament from Parvez Hossain Emon, Nazmul Hossain and Mohammad Naim, all scored at tremendous strike-rate, showed the direction that the national outfit can take to improve their T20 credibility.

That Nazmul's ton, when his side Minister Group Rajshahi posted the highest total of the board, was assailed by an aggressive 42-ball ton from Emon showed the merits of such a tournament with only domestic players on view.

Established stars also made their mark as national team stalwart Tamim Iqbal ended as the second highest-run getter in the tournament. Although his fluency was often questioned, that he finished amongst the top scorers once again showed his consistency as one of the top batsmen in the country.

Liton Das also made the tournament count, impressing Gazi Group Chattogram's fans with his array of strokes and the composure and consistency that so many craved from him. His opening partner Soumya Sarkar also found his rhythm and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza got in on the act after joining Gemcon Khulna and scalping a career-best five-wicket haul in T20s.

There were some let-downs as well as Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim did not always get going while all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who staged a return to competitive cricket through the tournament after serving out a one-year ban, could not quite get his bat to shine the way he would have liked but still featured economic bowling as potent as ever in the format.

Meanwhile, Beximco Dhaka batsman Yasir Ali's haul of 294 runs proved his potential in difficult situations with the bat.

However, the tournament was however not just about batsmen. Mustafizur Rahman staked his claim as one of the best performers, with line, length and above all his intelligence once again brought to the fore. His energy while running in to bowl and getting his rhythm going showed signs of him being able to overcome the injury issues that had plagued him before the Covid-19 pandemic stalled cricket.

His bowling partner Shorfiul Islam proved his potential with 16 wickets, generating pace, bounce and swing with the new ball. With the old ball, he got his yorkers going and proved a capable deputy. Spinner Nahidul Islam also impressed as he opened the bowling for finalists Chattogram and grabbed early breakthroughs to set the stage for the likes of Mustafizur and Shoriful.

Experienced campaigner Rubel Hossain of Dhaka showed venom with the ball and the youngsters like Dhaka's Shafiqul Islam and Khulna's Shahidul Islam impressed with their performances in pressure situations. Kamrul Islam Rabbi's hattrick in a tough game also brought much-desired competition.

The performances of local players meant that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president was certainly in favor of such tournaments taking place. "We are considering how to keep this tournament in the calendar,'' BCB president Nazmul Hassan said.