Can Khulna’s stars step up against Ctg?

After two final-over thrillers on the opening day, the Bangabandhu T20 Cup dulled down a bit with Minister Group Rajshahi and Gazi Group Chattogram registering rather comfortable victories over Gemcon Khulna and Beximco Dhaka respectively on the second matchday on Thursday.

From a neutral perspective, spectators will want more edge-of-the-seat stuff when Khulna take on Chattogram in today's day game before high-flying Rajshahi take on Barishal under lights at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Khulna looked to be the strongest side on paper after the players' draft concluded. Led by Bangladesh T20 skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, Khulna also boast the likes of premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan -- who made his return to cricket through this tournament after serving a year-long ban -- and other national stars like Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes and Shafiul Islam.

However, they have failed to live up to the hype and their star power went unseen in their first two games. Surprisingly, it was Ariful Haque who took the match away from Barishal in their first game by hitting Mehidy Hasan Miraz for four massive sixes in the final over. Even in their next encounter against a young Rajshahi side, Ariful came up with yet another unbeaten knock, this time helping the star-studded Khulna save face as they fell to a six-wicket defeat.

Khulna, going up against a Chattogram side that started their campaign by demolishing Mushfiqur Rahim's Dhaka by nine wickets on Thursday, will be facing their toughest challenge so far in the tournament. Chattogram, inspired by magnificent batting displays from Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar in their opening game, will be hoping their mixed bag of domestic and national talents do the trick once again today.

In the second game of the day, Rajshahi will be hoping to make it three wins out of three while Barishal skipper Tamim Iqbal will be desperate to register their first win.

Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Rajshahi, the only team to not have picked a Grade A player during the draft, will continue without top all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who hurt his ankle during training two days before the competition started. The Rajshahi team management is supposed to provide updates about Saifuddin on Sunday.