BPL 2023: Who Can Win the 9th Bangladesh Premier League

Top favourite teams of BPL 2023

January 08, 2023, 08:18 AM
by Nafiz Tahmid

UNB News
Publish- January 08, 2023, 08:18 AM
Nafiz Tahmid
Update- January 08, 2023, 08:40 AM

BPL 2023

Bangladesh’s franchise T20 cricket tournament Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023 started on January 6, 2023. The tournament has been taking place since 2012, with occasional breaks. This tournament allows Bangladeshi cricket fans to experience the excitement of watching foreign players compete on the field. Let’s see who can with the BPL 2023.

Overview of BPL 2023 Teams

This year seven teams, Chattogram Challengers, Comilla Victorians, Dhaka Dominators, Fortune Barishal, Khulna Tigers, Rangpur Riders, and Sylhet Strikers, are participating in the tournament. Read on to get an overview of each team.

Chattogram Challengers

Despite never having won the Bangladesh Premier League title, Chittagong consistently build a competitive team and consistently performs well in the league. Chittagong Challengers showed hope last season too but failed to prove their strength in the end. But, this year, it seems Chittagong has started BPL with an average team, as there is no domestic or foreign star cricketer in the team.

One of the most notable players on the Bangladesh national team is Afif Hossain, is considered to be a standout player for Chattogram Challengers. Besides, there is experienced cricketer Shuvagata Hom, who is the captain of Chittagong Challengers this time. The team contains some well-known names in domestic cricket, like Irfan Shukkur, and Mehedi Maruf.

However, Ireland’s Curtis Campher can bring positive results to this team as he proved his ability by playing fast innings in the T20 World Cup. Pakistan’s fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani will also give the team bowling some strength. There is Taijul Islam, who is an integral part of Bangladesh's Test team, particularly in conditions that favor spin bowling. Further, Mehdi Hasan Rana, the left-arm fast bowler who took 18 wickets last season, is also in the Chittagong team.

Although Chittagong builds the team without any star cricketers, the available players are good performers and have the ability to fight a close match.

Comilla Victorians

Comilla is the current champion of the Bangladesh Premier League. This franchise has won the title three times in total. Throughout the 11-year history of the Bangladesh Premier League, the Comilla Victorians have consistently performed well and are considered to be one of the most reliable teams in the league.

However, the team was not in the tournament from the beginning. But since joining the tournament, Victorians authorities were engaged in creating specific supporter groups starting from jerseys, logos, and slogans. They also formed a strong team this year too.

There are star cricketers like Litton Das, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, and Mustafizur Rahman from Bangladesh in this squad. Along with Mosaddek’s all-rounder role, Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, and Zimbabwe’s Shaun Williams are also on the team.

However, Rizwan will come to Bangladesh later. But Nabi is with Comilla from the beginning. Besides, the team also has Dawid Malan, one of the most successful international T20 batsmen for England.

All these players make Comilla Victorians a balanced team.

Dhaka Dominators

For now, the biggest name of Dhaka Dominators seems to be Chaminda Vaas. He is serving as their head coach of Dhaka. Apart from Vaas, Taskin Ahmed is a big name for Dhaka. Taskin is the best fast bowler in Bangladesh in recent times and is accompanied by Shoriful Islam and Al Amin. All these fast bowlers are the core strength of team Dhaka. Also there is Chamika Karunaratne.

The well-known names of Bangladesh domestic cricket, Alok Kapali and Muktar Ali, are in the squad. Pakistan’s Shan Masood, who added value to Pakistan’s batting lineup in the T20 World Cup, can be a source of hope for Dhaka Dominators. Further, this tournament can be a big opportunity for Soumya Sarkar to prove his performance once again. The team also signed up Mohammad Mithun and Nasir Hossain.

So, it seems Dhaka will go for attack with the top-class bowling lineup.

Fortune Barishal

Last season, Fortune Barisal was a dominant force in the Bangladesh Premier League. Despite ultimately falling short in the final, the team displayed a high level of skill and consistency throughout the season. Spin bowling was the main strength of this team under Shakib Al Hasan’s captaincy. Last year, Shakib and Afghan bowler Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s combo helped the team to reach the final.

This year Mehidy Hasan and Rahkeem Cornwell will accompany Shakib. Also, Sanjamul Islam of the domestic league of Bangladesh will also shine for Barishal. Additionally, the team management has the option to utilize Mahmudullah Riyad and Chaturanga de Silva as alternatives.

Barisal’s main goal was to build an all-rounder-based team. Last season Barisal fielded a team with ten all-rounders except for the wicket-keeper. However, this franchise is entering the BPL 2023 with a slightly weaker team.

But the big strength of the team is captain Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib was recently awarded the best athlete of Bangladesh in a survey and is also the most successful cricketer in the Bangladesh Premier League. He has won the tournament’s best cricketer award four times in eight seasons so far.

Khulna Tigers

Like Dhaka, Khulna’s big strength is coach Khaled Mahmud. He is a well-known name in Bangladesh Premier League and a successful coach. However, the biggest star of this team is Tamim Iqbal. Tamim is not only the main cricketer of the team but also an important member from team management to team selection.

Squad-wise Khulna is one of the strongest teams this season. There are five Pakistani cricketers in the squad, including Naseem Shah, Fakhar Zaman, and Wahab Riaz. Additionally, Azam Khan can play a big role, while the team also picked Sharjeel Khan. But if Khulna plays in the playoffs, they will not be able to stay in the team in the end.

One of the most successful T20 bowlers in Bangladesh in recent times is Nasum Ahmed remains in the spin sector. Nahidul Islam, who showed surprise last season, is also available on the team.

Rangpur Riders

Rangpur Riders have their own practice ground and a different style of management and are still trying to maintain the professionalism of international cricket in the Bangladesh Premier League. The one-time champions of the tournament have not appeared in the last season. This time the team has come to the BPL with a strong pace bowling attack.

Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud remain at the core of the attack. Besides, the important players of the Pakistan T20 team, Mohammad Nawaz and Shoaib Malik, are playing for Rangpur. Sikandar Raza, a star cricketer from Zimbabwe, has been signed to play for Rangpur for the entire season. Besides, there are Sheikh Mehdi Hasan and Naeem Sheikh. Bangladesh’s Nurul Hasan Sohan will lead this team.

Sylhet Strikers

Sylhet has appeared as Sylhet Strikers name in the Bangladesh Premier League this time. Sylhet can be called the most unsuccessful team in the history of BPL. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the most successful captain of BPL, is playing for this team this year. However, he has not played in any professional cricket matches since April of the previous year.

Bangladesh National Parliament members Mashrafe and Mushfiq, who retired from international T20 cricket, are big names in Sylhet. A fund fact, Mushfiqur Rahim and Sylhet have one thing in common, Mushfiq as an individual and Sylhet as a team are yet to win the Bangladesh Premier League title.

Rajin Saleh is the coach for Sylhet Strikers; a cricketer from Sylhet has played for the Bangladesh national team for a long time. However, the main strength of Sylhet Strikers is two Pakistani cricketers, Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Amir, who will not be available for the team for all matches. Similar to how Barishal structured their team last year, Sylhet has recruited a number of all-rounders to provide balance and versatility to their lineup in this T20 tournament.

The team has Imad Wasim, Thisara Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, and Zimbabwe’s Ryan Burl. Colin Ackermann, who caught the eye in T20 World Cup, will also play for Sylhet.

Who will Win the BPL 2023?

Comparing all seven teams, Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal have a great chance of winning the tournament. Both teams have some star players with good form. For Comilla, Litton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaun Williams can make a difference and lead the team to another BPL title.

On the other hand, Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz can play a big role in Fortune Barishal. Apart from these two stars, Mahmudullah Riyad and Chaturanga de Silva can help the team win from the middle order.

Final Words

In the Bangladesh Premier League tournament, the Franchises are erratic and changed ownership several times. Even no cricketer has played for the same team for a long time, as seen in Indian Premier League with Virat Kohli in Bangalore and MS Dhoni in Chennai. As the only T20 tournament in Bangladesh, the BPL provides an opportunity for domestic cricketers to showcase their skills in the T20 format and earn a wage.

BPL is primarily a bowling-based T20 league. In the group stage, we hardly see any big innings in Mirpur and Sylhet. We may see a little run in Chittagong. That’s why teams go into the draft with the idea of strengthening the bowling first. And the same goes for this year too. So, the teams’ fate will depend on the bowlers’ performance. So, Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal will remain ahead in the race to win BPL 2023.