Problems aplenty for bealeaguered Sylhet
From the start of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL), Sylhet Thunder have been beset by problems on and off the pitch.
It was learned that there was an argument between Sylhet’s team sponsors and team director Tanjil Chowdhury, who was appointed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), over irrelevant player selection during the players’ draft.
Then Sylhet’s West Indian pacer Krishmar Santokie bowled a huge no-ball against Chattogram Challengers in the opening game, raising concerns about whether there was something underhanded going on.
Tanjil was even quoted in the media as saying that he was not happy after the sponsors roped in Santokie, but later clarified in a social media post that there were no such issues. Exacerbating matters is that Sylhet have lost five and won just one game against Khulna Tigers, that too courtesy of Andre Fletcher’s century -- the first of the edition.
Sylhet have national players like Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun and Ebadot Hossain, but have so far banked on West Indian recruits like Fletcher and Johnson Charles. According to Mithun, a lack of opportunities is one of the reasons that locals are yet to perform significantly.
Mithun, who scored an unbeaten 49 against Dhaka Platoon yesterday, hinted at the dissatisfaction and distance between players and team management.
“Look, it’s the team management’s decision,” said Mithun. “The foreign batsmen you mentioned, two of them bat at number two and three. T20 is a short game and you need to have enough opportunity to perform. If I get more overs to bat, naturally the chances are higher for me to score.”
Meanwhile, Dhaka’s Mahedi Hasan has been a revelation with the bat after being promoted to bat at number three as the right-hander cashed in by smashing consecutive fifties.
“Look, Dhaka’s locals are scoring runs. Why? Because those who are batting up the order in their team are all locals. And it’s not that our team does not have good batsmen. Obviously, if they get enough chances to bat higher they will also do well,” Mithun said.
With the tournament approaching the business end, it will be interesting to see whether Sylhet will be able to make a turnaround, but with the way things are going, it seems unlikely.
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