Super League to begin sans national stars

The CCDM released the fixture list for the Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier League yesterday, with Abahani and Mohammedan set to face off on the first day of the fixtures on May 1.

In the 15 matches of the Super League, slated to be played from May 1 till 14th, each of the top six teams will meet each other once. Abahani finished the initial league stage with 20 points, as many as Sheikh Jamal, but lead the table courtesy of a superior net run-rate.

The Super League of the DPL will begin after the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation ends.

However, national-team players will be unavailable for the crucial stage, with the Tigers slated to start a short camp in Sylhet on April 26 or 27 ahead of their departure for England on May 1 to play an ODI series against Ireland, which is part of the ICC ODI Super League.

While most of national-team stars such as Shakib Al Hasan and Rony Taludkar of Mohammedan and  Mushfiqur Rahim of Prime Bank will be away on national duty, Abahani can count on the experience of Afif Hossain, Mohammad Naim and Anamul Haque Bijoy for the Super League phase as they are out of the national set-up for the time being.

Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman, engaged in the Indian Premier League, will join the team in England ahead of the series.