When will it get serious?

The jury is still out on the quality of this season's National Cricket League (NCL) after the inclusion of two new teams as the country's solitary first-class competition has only completed three rounds. While one of those new additions, Dhaka Metropolis, have so far justified its inclusion, Rangpur has not found a firm footing yet.
Dhaka Metro returned to the NCL after more than a decade and have so far been the table-toppers with three wins, some admirable bowling performances and one huge score with the bat. This team has been formed to even out the number of participants in the competition and to give the cricket clubs in the capital another voting right in Bangladesh Cricket Board's power games. It has diminished Dhaka division's strength as a first-class team as well as given some players a regular playing chance which wasn't possible in a division as big as Dhaka.
Arafat Salahuddin, the Mymensingh-born all-rounder who has played his entire first-class cricket for Barisal, is one of those blossoming in the changed scenario. The Dhaka Metro captain has so far taken a five-for apart from scoring a century batting at No 8, helping his side to victories over Rajshahi, Dhaka and Barisal. It has been Dhaka Metro's bowling that has really stood out as they have bowled out every opponent twice.
"We have a real good team, a championship contender you can say," said Salahuddin yesterday. "We have a matured bowling attack, which is why they're doing so well."
"We have Talha Jubair, Tarek Aziz, Arafat Sunny and myself in the bowling attack. Everyone knows that they have past performances and I think it is all coming together very well for us," he added.
Their batting though only came together in the last game against a depleted Barisal side as they made 450 for eight with hundreds by Arman Hossain and Salahuddin. "I would say that we are not habituated with these wickets. People might say, or even the scorecard may reflect, that we batted poorly but the fact is that the wickets we get for doing nets at the grounds were not the same as in the middle, as we later found out," said Salahuddin.
The same performances haven't been forthcoming from Rangpur, who have lost two out of their three games, reflected wholly by the fact that none of the batsmen have scored a century while only one, off-spinner Mahmudul Hasan, has taken a five-wicket haul in an innings. It is clear that Rangpur are missing Naeem Islam and Nasir Hossain dearly while Dhaka has only seen Elias Sunny out of their grasp thus far.
Though these two teams have been the main talking point, Rajshahi's poor start and recovery is another story altogether. After an opening round loss to, incidentally, Dhaka Metro, the defending champions have summoned all their strengths to win the next two, the last one on the back of Farhad Hossain's double-hundred. Khulna and Sylhet have also made good starts to their campaign, the latter completing an outright win after almost five years while Chittagong impressed with one win but couldn't hold on to a strong first innings showing against Rajshahi.
With most of the Tigers returning to first-class cricket for a single game, the tournament will again have the undertones of a modest competition in the latter part of the first phase. For a better showing, teams like Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur and Chittagong must give a good account of themselves or the NCL will continue in its "picnic" premises.