Wickets that allow strokeplay in demand this BPL

With the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) fast approaching, slated to begin on January 19, focus turns to how much entertainment the tournament can provide this time around.

The focus will turn sharply to the wickets in question that will be used in this BPL: not only because better wickets equate to a more entertaining tournament but also because the national team has a T20 World Cup coming up in June and part of the preparation and selection process would start from the upcoming BPL.

High frequency of games resulted in tired wickets in BPL in the past, keeping crowd away from the franchise T20 league. The pattern was reversed last time around as quality wickets produced runs, aiding the national team in the process as batters such as Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy and Rony Talukdar -- top three run-getters in the last edition -- produced impactful innings to showcase their talent, the latter two getting into the national team on the back of BPL performances.

Shanto, the stand-in skipper in all three formats at the moment, had said during the recent home Tests against New Zealand that they needed better wickets for white-ball matches. The idea had propagated from Bangladesh's dismal outing in the ODI World Cup last year were batters could not take advantage as per their potential.

Yesterday, BCB Grounds Committee chairman Mahbub Anam, along with the three national selectors and Mirpur ground's curator Gamini de Silva, observed the wickets. The demands from the wickets remain the same this time too and better wickets can make selectors' task easier going forward.

"We always want wickets that produce runs like T20 matches should so that batters play their strokes. That's all we want this time too. The wickets are getting a bit of time in terms of preparation and we are hoping that we will get that kind of wickets. Since the ground got some rest this time around, we are hoping for good cricket," selector Habibul Bashar said.

In the last BPL, the fourth phase in Sylhet produced 2,580 runs across eight matches with an innings average of over 161 runs. The first phase in Mirpur averaged at 152 runs per innings in eight matches but in the third phase (four games) and the fifth phase (10 games) at the venue, the innings average fell to 138 and 142 respectively. It did climb in the eliminators, qualifier and final match, though, where innings average rose to over 162 in four matches.

"The problem this season is that games end at 10pm and next day there is a game again in the afternoon and the wicket doesn't get enough time to dry up from dew," Bashar said about the reason for not getting run-fests in certain games.

The main focus would be on getting batters into the flow for the T20 World Cup to be played in the USA and the West Indies. Bashar could not give a fair idea about what to expect from pitches in New York or Dallas or Saint Vincent – where Bangladesh would play the four group-stage matches, but he expected the wickets in the ICC tournament to be more sporting compared to what are prepared for bilateral series.

With better wickets, batters would be able to get more from their shots and may get themselves into the sort of adventurous mindset needed to take Bangladesh's T20 cricket to the next level. Suffice to say, it aids bowlers who need better preparation for flat wickets as was evidenced in India recently.