NCL begins anew

Ever since the National Cricket League's (NCL) inception two decades ago, the improvement of the standard of cricket, preparation of sporting wickets and overall competitiveness have been a far cry from what was promised over the years.

With the intent of achieving these same goals as usual, after more than six months, the country's traditional first-class tournament is set to begin from today across five venues in three cities -- Chattogram, Cox's Bazar and Sylhet. 

NCL was postponed right after the completion of two rounds back in April this year after Bangladesh saw a surge in Covid-19 cases nationwide. And even inside the bio-secure bubble, the likes of Sylhet Division skipper Alok Kapali and pacer Khaled Ahmed had tested positive and there were also reports of cases in the Rangpur Division team.

However, instead of resuming the postponed league, the new league is being started afresh as Dhaka Division face Sylhet Division at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium Academy Ground, Khulna Division take on Rangpur Division at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Chattogram Division host Rajshahi Division at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and Dhaka Metropolis lock horns with Barishal Division at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium Academy Ground in Cox's Bazar.

All the participating players have already been in hotel quarantine at their respective venues since October 13. The matches of Tier 1, which includes Dhaka, Khulna, Rangpur and Sylhet, will be held in the two venues in Sylhet while the matches of Tier 2, including Chattogram, Rajshahi, Dhaka Metro and Barishal, will be held in the two venues of Cox's Bazar and in Chattogram. 

Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal was supposed to feature for Chattogram in the NCL. However, he is still not available as the left-hander is nursing a thumb injury, which he picked up while playing for Bhairahawa Gladiators in Nepal's franchise T20 league earlier this month. The 32-year-old opener, however, is expected to feature in the league from the fourth round onwards.

Other than Tamim and the national players who are currently in the Middle East to feature for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup which began today, all the players of the national team Test side are expected to return to action with the NCL.

With the hopes of enhanced performances for the national side in the upcoming Test matches, the likes of Test skipper Mominul Haque and spinner Nayeem Hasan are expected to feature for Chattogram while the likes of pacers Abu Jayed, Khaled and Ebadot Hossain are set to play for Sylhet. Test team opener Shadman Islam has been named skipper of Dhaka Metropolis and Taijul Islam will play for Rajshahi under the leadership of Najmul Hossain Shanto while all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz will field for Khulna.

For the national team's Test players, the NCL will be of paramount importance and it would provide them with much-needed longer version game time as Bangladesh are set to host Pakistan in November-December for three T20Is and two Tests, both part of the ICC World Test Championship.  Eventually, it will be interesting to observe how much of an efficient output can the likes of Mominul, Jayed or Ebadot yield from these matches as the standard of cricket and competitiveness of the NCL have always been the burning question before the start of any editions of the tournament.