Tamim, Riyad off to Lahore

While most of the national cricketers including skipper Shakib Al Hasan returned home yesterday morning from Colombo, opener Tamim Iqbal and vice-captain Mahmudullah Riyad stayed back not for some sightseeing but to take a flight to Lahore to feature in a crucial Pakistan Super League (PSL) game.

Tamim's Peshawar Zalmi will take on Mahmudullah's Quetta Gladiators in the Eliminator 1 match at the Gaddafi Stadium today. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has also approved the participation of Shakib Al Hasan, pacer Mustafizur Rahman and batsman Sabbir Rahman in the PSL, Pakistan's T20 tournament that normally takes place in the desert cities of Dubai and Sharjah. But this time around, the last four games of the tournament have been billed in Karachi and Lahore, with the final slated for March 25 at Karachi.

Shakib, with a finger injury, did not feature in a single PSL game for Zalmi this year. Sabbir Rahman, who played a couple of round robin games for Zalmi, asked for an NOC from the board and got it. However he returned home with the team yesterday and was not sure whether he would be flying out to Lahore from Dhaka.

Mustafizur on the other hand, took a week's leave from the board. The left-arm quick had opted to spend time with his family instead of featuring in the PSL as his franchise Lahore Qalandars failed to make it to the playoffs. For the other players who returned home yesterday, after that heart-stopping last-ball defeat against India in the Nidahas Trophy final on Sunday, the next destination will be the ongoing Dhaka Premier League, the lone List A competition in the country.

Bangladesh's next international assignment is in June against Afghanistan before a full series against the West Indies, which may be pushed to August from July. The BCB has confirmed three ODI's against an up and coming Afghanistan, who have just been awarded Test status. The matches will likely be played in the Indian city of Dehradun from the first week of June.