Sylhet Ready To Welcome BPL With Run-Fest 

There is BPL fever in Sylhet. Whether you go to Zindabazar intersection in the city or go to some other places you will get a distinct feeling that BPL arrived in Sylhet. The lone-franchise-based 12 tournament are scheduled to have 12 games of this edition in Sylhet that will begin with   Rangpur Riders taking on Khulna Tigers at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today( January 26). The second game is slated between host Sylhet Strikers and defending champion Comilla Victorians.

Among the 12 games scheduled in Sylhet that will be played six days host Strikers will take on the field for five days and so naturally the ticket counter was crowded with home fans on Thursday (January 25) since the morning considering it’s a holiday the demand of ticket was high but many of them returned empty handed. 

One of them complained that ticket sales started from the counter as per schedule time but disappeared in a moment and even though there are no tickets at the counter, BPL tickets are available at high prices from black marketers outside.

Many people were disappointed for not being able to buy the jersey of their favorite team as the jerseys of BPL teams were being sold in front of the stadium but Sylhet’s jersey was not seen there. 

“Sylhet jerseys are not allowed to be sold here. Franchise owners have announced that they will be fined if they sell in the open place,” a jersey trader said in a disappointing tone.

However, Sylhet’s jersey sales have not stopped as the franchise itself has taken the responsibility of selling the jerseys and huge queue of fans were seen waiting to get one from the stall designated to sell Sylhet jersey.

There is no doubt that the gallery will turn into a pink sea during the Strikers match against Comilla Victorians tomorrow considering during their first season Sylhet International Stadium has witnessed an overflowing crowd of Sylhet fans, unlike any other BPL franchise in any other stadium.

Sylhet came up with an aggressive brand of cricket on the back of their youngster under the guidance of Mashrafee bin Mortaza in the last edition and attracted the audience to the field. The home team became the first team to confirm the play-off and was looking one of the favourite to win the championship on debut after reaching the final but their dream came to an end after losing to Comilla Victorians in the do-or-die game. 

‘Whenever we come to play in Sylhet, we get a lot of good audience and support and they inspire us,” Strikers pace bowling all-rounder Tanzim Hasan told reporters on Thursday ahead of their campaign opener at the home venue.

With a large audience comes the pressure of expectation, though Tanzim begs to differ. 

“Never, under pressure (Strikers pace bowling all-rounder Tanzim Hasan said this to the journalists at Sylhet practice today, 

Stadium is also decorated to attract the visitors like there are colorful banners beside the stadium road surrounded by tea gardens while the same goes for floodlight towers inside the field. There are ‘Sky balloons’ flying inside the stadium and there is also a message for the visitors to come to the field and enjoy the T20 entertainment.

Australian curator of BCB Tony Hemming, who was preparing wicket in Barisal, is called by BCB to look after the wicket in Sylhet and was seen overwhelmed with the satisfaction as he could prepare good wickets in ground number where Evin Lewis of Khulna Tigers batted freely.

The matches of Sylhet phase of BPL starting today will be played at the main stadium. Hemming will be looking to set-up a stage there so that it could have run fest as the wicket is expected to have consistent bounce.

The night matches are expected to have big runs and according to Sylhet’s home boy Tanjim Hasan the runs are going to be staged as well.

“It is normal for the dew to fall a little more in Sylhet and our game night with Comilla. Of course the ball will hit the bat very well. Batsmen will benefit in terms of runs and there is relatively Sylhet’s wicket grip lesser and in that case there will be a lot of runs in the game,” he said.

In the last BPL also, in six of the eight matches held at the Sylhet ground, scores of 150 were scored in two innings. Comilla set the record for the highest run chase in BPL history by topping the 210 runs scored by Khulna on the last day. 

Khulna Tigers are at the top of the BPL points table with 4 points in two matches so far. Chittagong Challengers who play one match more have equal points and at the end of the Sylhet episode, it remains to be seen who will be in the points table.