Towhid outshines everyone

Sylhet Strikers top order batter Towhid Hridoy took the spotlight upon himself with his performance with the bat as he is the highest run getter in the Bangladesh Premier League Cricket so far outperforming everyone in the tournament.

Towhid had been the most consistent performer of this edition of the BPL as he has scored 373 runs so far in his eight innings averaging 53.29 with an outstanding strike rate of 149.20 depending on which, his team, Sylhet were the first side to ensure play-offs and currently tops the points table.

The Sylhet batter started the tournament with an important match winning knock of 55 off just 34 balls and then made it three consecutive fifties in the next two games against Comilla Victorians and Dhaka Dominators hitting 56 off 37 and 84 off 46 respectively before missing out two games due to injury.

On return from injuries, the batter struggled for a couple of matches and the took off from there where he had left and after the last match against Rangpur Riders where his team lost by eight wickets despite his brilliant innings of 85, he has hit the most fifties in the tournament which counts five, one more than Comilla’s Pakistani recruit Mohammad Rizwan.

His teammate Najmul Hossain Shanto ranks second in the top scoring list, who had scored 371 runs in his 11 innings. Fortune Barishal’s Pakistani middle order batter Iftikhar Ahmad and skipper Shakib Al Hasan ranks third and fourth respectively both having scored 347 each. Dhaka skipper Nasir Hossain scored 342 which puts him to the fifth place.

Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh’s T20 and Test team thinks local players can shine if they are provided with proper wickets.

“If you see the likes of Hridoy, Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Jaker Ali-all batted with utmost confidence and they showed how talented they are. I think local batters could show their talent due to the wicket this time,” he said.

“This is a good sign for us. We have to give credit to the curator for this. Normally we are not used to getting good wicket in Mirpur, so our performance looked ordinary most of the time. If we can continue playing on this sort of wicket, I think our batters will grow with confidence, which will eventually be beneficial for us in International T20 cricket.”

Towhid, when asked about his brilliant form and match winning performances for his side, he said, “of course, it feels good, every batter dreams of contributing for the team. I had confidence, and by the grace of the almighty, I did start well and kept the flow going.”

Actually, I didn’t have the chance to play T20 cricket very much, so I’m trying to improve in the format. You have to take risks (in the format), that’s where I’m working, how to take the minimum risks and I believe my role is to take the score as close as possible so others can play their role,” he added.

Last year, he was on the losing side on the final where he failed to take his side to victory while being on the striking end and needed three runs form the last ball.

The 22-year-old said, “It was disappointing actually, I was really sad because it only needed a boundary. Though I’m not used to batting in that position, but as a batter you have to do what is required of you in any position, I tried till the last ball.”