Batsmen yet to make their mark in BCB President’s Cup

Bowlers settling into their groove quicker coupled with rustiness from batsmen, saw the BCB President's Cup fail to produce high-scoring affairs so far. The Mirpur ground traditionally produces average scores of 240 in 50-over format but the top batsmen in the country failed to explode so far despite the gap in quality of bowling faced compared to international cricket.

Cricket halted in the country since mid-March following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Since July, BCB arranged facilities across the country in order for players to get back to the feel of cricket with individual training. The bowlers, as well as the batsmen geared themselves up for cricket with the hope of getting back to domestic and international cricket amidst the pandemic. While a host of international tournaments, along with domestic tournaments were postponed, BCB were finally able to get cricket back on to the field this October through a tournament of their own.

The 50-over competition, only on it's second day of fixtures have not yet seen the national big-name stars come up with big scores. Mahmudullah XI failed to even reach 200-run mark in the first game against Najmul XI and bowlers, especially pacers dictated proceedings.

That was very much the case again in overcast conditions at Mirpur today as Tamim XI were bowled out for just 103, only playing 23.1 overs of the curtailed 47-over game. It appears that when thrust into the competitive setting of a tournament, the batsmen did not rise to the occasion after a seven-month long break from cricket.

Some of the top batmen in the country in Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal were not able to apply themselves to a slightly more vibrant wicket with a bit more carry. But while there was no uneven bounce, with the ball coming onto the bat quite well, the tendency of batsmen to throw away their wicket after spending some time at the crease was prevalent. While there was rustiness in application, there was rustiness in reading game situations as well. Thus after getting in, batsmen were prone to soft dismissals, often not being able to keep their shots on the ground. Those that did, like Towhid Hridoy or Irfan Shukkur in the first match, were able to leave their mark even as the matches were low-scoring.

The bowlers are doing their part but as the tournament wears on, the batsmen will feel the urge to do better and overcome some seven-month long rustiness.