Can Sylhet's finish be Dhaka's start?
Followers of this season's Bangladesh Premier League can hope to see some entertaining cricket from Rangpur Riders' dashing batsman Chris Gayle when the tournament resumes at Mirpur today. However, the 'Universe Boss' has been nowhere near his trademark self in the last five matches he played for Rangpur.
The absence of two Australians -- Steve Smith and David Warner -- will definitely be felt in the competition but to everyone's relief, South African AB de Villiers arrived to help light up the crowds.
Expectations will be high for the second Dhaka leg following the two high-voltage matches which closed out the Sylhet leg.
Today, however, is not the day for Gayle or de Villiers to shine as the two will have to wait for tomorrow, when Rangpur Riders will take on bottom-side Khulna Titans in the first match before Dhaka Dynamites faces Comilla Victorians at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
It will be interesting though to see how well stalwarts Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal carry their form from Sylhet when Shakib's Dhaka Dynamites square off with Chittagong Vikings and Tamim's Comilla Victorians lock horns with Rajshahi Kings.
Tamim returned to form with a 42-ball 73 against Khulna Titans in Sylhet while Shakib's much desired second half century in the competition came against Sylhet Sixers, drawing further enthusiasm from the fans. It is also nice to see local players contributing in this edition but consistency was still a far cry aside from Chittagong Vikings captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
Still, Liton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Mehedi Hasan Miraz made their marks alongside Sabbir Rahman, whose superb 51-ball 85 against Riders in Sylhet most probably brought a big smile to the national team management.
Although Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes pointed out that the BPL is far from ideal preparation for the upcoming challenges in New Zealand, Sabbir's big score has special significance as it is no secret that the team management are desperately looking to bring the right-hander back to national duty ahead of the New Zealand tour in February.
The tournament organisers will however be more interested in seeing high scores like how Chittagong Vikings' put up 214 for four before Khulna Titans replied with 188 for eight in the last match of the Sylhet leg. Earlier on the day, Rangpur Riders had posted 195 for six after Sylhet Sixers managed 194 for 4 in a high scoring affair that brought a sigh of relief to the entire league.
In conclusion, if the next three days in Dhaka are entertaining then it could indeed incite further interest for when the BPL caravan will shift to Chattogram on January 25.