BPL Team Review: Mashrafe, Mushfiqur the ‘X-factor’ of Sylhet

Sylhet franchise has been the most disappointing team in BPL history. Most of the time, they found them languished at the bottom of the table but this time, they vowed to snap that disappointing streak.

This time Sylhet's franchise forms the team under a completely new ownership. Although the ownership is new, the main strength of the team is the experienced and old cricketers of the country.

Sylhet Strikers are revolving mainly around Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the former captain of the national team. They have taken Mushfiqur Rahim, another experienced cricketer of the country, from the Draft. Experienced Rubel Hossain is also there.

Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir, who has passed his prime, will play in the Sylhet team. They have also signed retired Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera. However, in the foreign list, there are some current Internatiinal players like Pakistan's Mohammad Haris, Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva, Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl.

They also obtained the service of two openers Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan, who had recently made his debut in Test cricket during Bangladesh’s home series against India.

Although Shanto has been effective in the Bangladesh wicket, there are questions about his strike rate. However Sylhet’s middle order looked not so compact. They would have to heavily rely on Mushfiqur Rahim whose current form is not encouraging totally. Besides, Mushfiqur has already retired from T20 International.

Towhid Hridoy is promising but he is yet to establish him in T20 cricket. This BPL is a chance for him to show his credential. Akbar Ali couldn’t live up to the hype after leading Bangladesh Under-19 team to clinch title in 2020. Most of his Under-19 mates had already established them but he is yet to do anything worthy to prove him. This BPL is also a platform for him to prove that he is really a talented player.

Among the local pacers, they have taken Rejaur Rahman Raja, a pacer with raw pace and Tanzim Hasan Shakib who could bat aggressively. Experienced spinner Nabil Samad is also in the team. But all in all, Sylhet can be tagged as average team. They have to rely on the experience of Mashrafe-Mushfiqur and the performance of foreigners.

Sylhet Strikers will face Chattogram Challengers in the first match of the season at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on January 6.

Sylhet Strikers

Direct Signing: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mohammad Amir (Pakistan), Mohammad Haris (Pakistan), Ryan Burl (Zimbabwe), Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka), Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka).

Local players from Draft: Mushfiqur Rahim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Nabeel Samad, Towhid Hridoy, Rubel Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Islam Apu, Akbar Ali, Mohammad Sharifullah, Tanzim Hasan Shakib.

Foreigners from the Draft: Tom Moores (England), Gulbadin Naib (Afghanistan).

Source: BSS