Led by an inspirational Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the most successful captain of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Sylhet Strikers remain hopeful of clinching their maiden trophy when they take on Comilla Victorians at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today.
The much-anticipated final starts at 6.30 PM and will be aired live on Nagorik Television.
As a captain Mashrafe has not only an envious record in International cricket, he has also a record to cherish in BPL. The lanky paceman led the different sides to BPL champions for highest four times-in fact all of the four titles led by him came in the first five editions.
Mashrafe led Dhaka Gladiators twice (2012, 2013) to clinch the coveted trophy and then he won it for Comilla Victorians (2015) and Rangpur Riders (2017). Imrul Kayes was the only other captain to have won the title twice with Comilla Victorians in 2018 and 2022. Shakib Al Hasan led Dhaka Dynamites to BPL Champions in 2016 while Andre Russell is the only foreign captain to have hoisted the title for Rajshahi Royals in 2019.
Mashrafe, however, didn't loss any final and so Sylhet franchise who would play the BPL final for the first time, stayed upbeat to lift it.
Sylhet moreover were more hopeful due to how Mashrafe's captaincy itself helped the side move to the final when everyone wrote them off after the Players' draft.
They were in fact formed with some aged players and young players who haven't had the reputation to stand tall in the big tournament. But Mashrafe's magic tough turned those youngsters a match-winner one, with Towhid Hridoy, Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib playing the crucial role in taking the side to the final.
"No, there is no magic. Allah has been kind to us and the players tried to play their best, so it happened," Mashrafe said. However he remains alert ahead of the final, saying that he didn't loss any final game as of now doesn't mean that he would win every final.
"It's final so we can't take any risk. We can't be complacent by thinking that Mashrafe didn't loss any final match. We have to give our best."
The team whom Mashrafe's side will meet in the final has been in excellent form. After losing first three matches in a row, including a game against Sylhet, Comilla have been ruthless, winning the next 10 matches in a row. They also beat Sylhet twice in this period-in the second leg and in the first Qualifier after which they moved to the final straightway.
Like Mashrafe, Comilla's captain Imrul Kayes also didn't loss any final game, though he played the most crucial game twice just.
"Comilla are the most consistent side in this tournament but that doesn't mean, we'll be no match against them. If we play our best cricket, and win the key moments, we can win the trophy. But again I said, I have no magic touch. The boys played well so far and I want them to fire again for just one more match."
After winning 10 matches in a row, Comilla knew a bad day can come and ruin their hopes. They however hope they will not be victimized by that 'law of average' in the most crucial game of the tournament.
"We'll try to play our best game. If we can come up with the game that we have been playing so far, we hope we can win the title," Comilla's captain Imrul Kayes said. If Comilla win the title tomorrow, they will be most successful franchise in BPL solely, ousting Dhaka franchise, which under the name of Dhaka Gladiators and Dhaka Dynamites won the title thrice.
Source: BSS