Mushy defends foreigners' quota

The decision from the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) governing council to revert to five foreign players in the playing eleven for the fifth edition raised a few concerns,  but Tigers' Test captain and new icon of Rajshahi Kings Mushfiqur Rahim believed that it would foster more competitiveness among local cricketers.

The governing council opted to go with four foreign players the previous season after the first three seasons of the tournament were played with five overseas cricketers in the playing eleven.

"Any decision can have a good or bad side. If you look at those five foreign players then maybe a local player's spot will be reduced, but those who get a chance will have to go through fiercer competition," Mushfiqur said after being unveiled as the previous season's runners-up's new icon player.

"I think if they go through that in the domestic circuit then it will help them when they reach the international level. And the foreigners who come here are all of very high quality and just sharing the dressing room with them will lead to improvements, which we saw even in the first edition."

Mushfiqur added that any judgement should be reserved till the end of the season.

"There were five foreigners in the first edition and the team combination then was also very good. So hopefully the decision this time will be beneficial for Bangladesh cricket and we might see that at the end of the season."

The 30-year-old believed that the standard of cricket in the BPL would only get better with time and went as far as to rate the tournament as the second best domestic T20 competition in the world in terms of competitiveness, behind the Indian Premier League.

However the wicket-keeper batsman, who has been the highest run-getter in the history of the BPL with 1172 runs in 42 matches, said that even his individual heroics were not enough when it came to team results and pointed to his previous season's experience with Barisal Bulls.

"T20 is such a format that if you alone do well then it will not amount to anything. I didn't have any magic that if I did well the team would do well because the whole team has to perform. If I'm not mistaken, I'm the highest run-getter in the BPL over the past four editions. Sometimes if you don't get support from the other end then it becomes difficult."

When his attention was turned to the two-match Test series against Australia slated for later this month, Mushfiqur -- who is yet to play a Test against the Aussies -- said that it would be a huge platform for the Tigers to showcase their ability on the world stage.

"I have not played a single Test against Australia and it will be a big opportunity for the team, everyone is excited. We have been doing well over the past few years and if we can do well against a big Test nation like Australia then it will send a different message to world cricket. So we will try to continue but it's not going to be easy because Australia have a very good record in the subcontinent," he concluded.