Two of the current Bangladesh Premier League’s bottom teams – Sylhet Strikers and Durdanto Dhaka will vie in a crucial contest to keep their playoff chances alive at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.
Sylhet have been the most disappointing team in the ongoing tournament so far after they failed to earn any win in their five matches and they are currently placed bottom in the seven-team points table.
They have already played three games in four match days in front of their own supporters but the Mashrafe bin Mortaza-led side, which finished runners-up last year, were at the receiving end in all the matches.
However, Sylhet will see Mohammad Mithun leading them against Dhaka after their regular skipper Mashrafe bin decided to take a break and join his responsibility as the Whip in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Sylhet franchise on Thursday confirmed that left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam joined their side in place of injured all-rounder Jawad Mohammad, who picked a groin strain during a practice session in Sylhet.
“It’s true that we have lost five out of five matches. It’s part of the game and we aren’t thinking much about it. We have seven more matches. We will try to go match by match in the rest of the tournament,” Sylhet pacer Rejaur Rahman Raja told reporters at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium’s Outer venue on Thursday.
“We will definitely try to win tomorrow’s game. If we can play well in the field, we will surely win the match,” he added.
Meanwhile, despite making a winning start in the tournament, the newcomers Dhaka lost their way since then as they suffered three consecutive defeats in their next three games and they are currently placed at sixth with two points.
Dhaka will be playing their last Sylhet phase match today and they will be desperately looking for a win here in order to stay in the run for the playoff qualification after they lost the first two games in Sylhet.
In both those losing games, Dhaka were outplayed by their opponents and it seriously hurt their net run rate which could play a decisive role at the end of the league stage.
On Thursday, the full squad, which was divided into four separate teams, featured in an intra-squad football series at the Outer Stadium before the players took part in the net session during a two-hour long training session.
Dhaka head coach Khaled Mahmud later spoke to the media where he expressed his optimism of getting back to winning ways against hosts Sylhet.
“We got the momentum after winning the first match against Comilla but after losing the second game against Chattogram, I think we never came back,” Mahmud said.
“It was so frustrating how we lost the last game against Khulna. But these are all past. We have to start afresh tomorrow.
“I think every game from here is crucial for us if we want to do something really well…We want momentum now and hopefully, it will be in tomorrow’s game,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, in the day’s second game, in-form Chattogram Challengers will take on Comilla Victorians at the same venue.
Chattogram are in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs after they won four out of five games and they are currently in the second position in the points table.
On the other hand, Comilla aren’t passing a great run of form as they won two and lost the other two matches out of their four games.