Teamwork brings Gazi success

The much talked about Dhaka Premier League 2013 — which made a rather rickety beginning in September after a six-month delay from the scheduled date, finally came to an end yesterday with Gazi Tank Cricketers emerging the new champions.
The last round match between Gazi Tank Cricketers and Prime Doleshwar — both deadlocked at the top of the league before the match — was a virtual final and saw the former win by 60 runs, having scored 295 for 6. Although it was not quite a thriller, but it did depict the grit that both the sides played with throughout the tournament
It was an aspect brought up by Gazi Tank captain Mahmudullah Riyad during the post-match press conference. “We had a lot of respect for Prime Doleshwar because they played well as a team throughout the tournament and beat us in the first round as well,”said Riyad.
The captain hailed his side’s team effort and stated it to be the key to his side’s victory.
“We made good starts in both innings. The wicket was not that easy to bat on, but application was good. Imrul (Kayes), Rokibul (Hassan), Eoin (Morgan), (Ryan) Ten Doeschate — all of them performed well,” said Riyad.
Eoin Morgan starred in the Gazi Tank with an aggressive 71-ball-84 which helped his side put on 118 runs in the last ten overs. It was a great turn-around for the England batsman, who had only managed 72 runs in the four innings prior to this one.
“Batting is a funny game as you have a lot of downs and a very few ups and today was an up and I am really happy about it. Today I was more positive and my mindset was really good,” said Morgan.
While Gazi Tank’s players ecstatic with their first league title, it was their owner Lutfur Rahman Badal – who was perhaps the most excited person as he has now won the league for the third time consecutive time.Dressed up in T-shirt, especially made for the occasion, Badal told reporters that he had to overcome several obstacles to win this year.
“There were lots of decisions that went against us. The umpiring was not up to the mark. We also had to form a completely new side due to the new player transfer system. But on the whole, I am happy to have finally won and full credit goes to the players,” said Badal.
Doleshwar’s reply to Gazi Tank’s 295 was poor to say the least. They would have gone down much earlier in the chase had it not been for Mominul Haque’s 86 and Forhad Reza’s 79 late in the innings.
“When I was in the middle, we had already lost a three to four wickets. If I could have scored a century and played a longer innings, we probably would have won. But honestly, we just lost too many quick wickets at the top,” said Mominul.