Teams with much to prove

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza may not be Bangladesh's best bowler. He sure is not among the top batsmen in the country either. But the one area in which he is head and shoulders ahead of the rest is his ability to lead a side.

Many had expected the Comilla Victorians to get eliminated early in the last Bangladesh Premier League. However, under Mashrafe, the side steadily found its way and eventually went on to take the championship. It was quite a feat considering that almost no one had expected them to go all the way.

And so, during the players' draft of the Dhaka Premier League, when Mashrafe was picked towards the end by Kalabagan Krira Chakra (KKC), many found it a bit surprising. For his part, Mashrafe did not mind the fact that a series of other icon players were called ahead of him. He is ready to prove himself with the team that he has got.

While several teams in the league have preferred to hire the young guns, KKC, on the other hand decided to stick to experience. The likes of Abdur Razzak and Robiul Islam are in this squad. Five years ago, this would have been a great combination, but today both these bowlers are nowhere near a national call-up.

Razzak however has been in good touch. He was the highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Bangladesh Cricket League. Robiul on the other hand has faced fitness issues in the recent past and will hope to get past that. Also in the side are Sadman Islam Anik, Dewan Sabbir and Nihaduzzaman, who are considered extremely talented.

In the final of the BPL, Alok Kapali smacked a couple of boundaries towards the end in order to lead Mashrafe's side to an unthinkable victory. Kapali though will not be playing for his former national teammate in the DPL.

He will instead be playing for the newly-promoted Gazi Group Cricketers. For a side that has just entered the premier division, they stack up pretty well. Aside from Kapali, they have got Elias Sunny, Anamul Haque and Shamsur Rahman.

Kapali  in particular has been in tremendous form this year. He scored three centuries in the Bangladesh Cricket League and looks to be in fine form. What is even better is that he has taken wickets with his leg-spinners as well.

In the game against North Zone, he not only scored 154 but also finished with figures of five for 70. In the following game, his last match, he scored 111 and also scalped three wickets.

The likes of Anamul and Shamsur will want to work on regaining their respective spots in the national team. The spots for Tamim Iqbal's opening partner in ODIs and T20Is are still up for grabs, and a good performance here could change their fortunes.

Anamul in particular will want to quash the unfortunate streak that he has been going through ever since he injured his shoulder during the 2015 World Cup and make a fresh start here.