A season that locals ruled
The biggest takeaway of the Bangladesh Premier League this season has been that of the performance of the local players. When you compare the statistics of the last season to that of this year, it clearly shows that Bangladesh's players, especially the batsmen, have been a lot more competitive this season.
The top three run-getters this season -- Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim -- are all from Bangladesh. Last year, Kumar Sangakkara topped that list and five of the 10 highest run-getters were from abroad.
The numbers also suggest that batsmen have enjoyed this season much more than the last. For instance, only two batsmen -- Sangakkara and Imrul Kayes -- had scored more than 300 runs in 2015. This time, all of the top 10 batsmen have surpassed that mark.
On the other hand, the bowlers found life slightly more difficult than last season. The average economy rate of the top five wicket-takers last season was 6.13 and this season that number, prior to the final yesterday, was 6.82. Oddly enough, five of the six highest Bangladeshi wicket-takers this season were pacers as opposed to slow left-arm bowlers with Shafiul Islam topping that list.
One thing the BPL has done is train the spotlight on some new names. Dhaka Dynamites' Mehedi Maruf and Rajshahi Kings's Afif Hossain lead that list. Although Afif was introduced after half the tournament was over, the kind of temperament he showed on the big stage with his bowling, which happens to be his weaker department, suggests that this youngster's future is quite bright.
The bustling starts provided by Mehedi for Dhaka early in the tournament was the reason the Dynamites managed to get that early advantage in the competition. Until the final yesterday, he held the highest strike-rate in the BPL and that is perhaps the reason that he was a late entry into the preliminary squad for the New Zealand series.
The top honour, whether it be for a foreigner or local, should go to Tamim Iqbal. The left-hander, with 476 runs at an average of 43.27 was a class apart in this tournament. The way he firmly played his inside out drives over cover with precision was especially entertaining and it showed that he was in brilliant touch.
On the other hand, Chris Gayle and Shakib Al Hasan would top the list of players who failed to impress.
Prior to this tournament, Gayle had a batting average of 77.28 in the first three seasons of the BPL. After his dismal performance this season, in which he scored 109 runs in five games, that number came down to 54.16.
In a similar vein, Shakib did not end up in the list of either the top 10 wicket-takers or run-getters in the competition.
On the whole, the BPL this season was a bit of a mixed bag. While it did witness close matches, it however failed to attract spectators to the ground on a regular basis.
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