‘Nothing exceptional, not bad either’: Razzak on finding future stars in BPL

National selector Abdur Razzak said today that nothing exceptional had been found yet so far in the ongoing BPL in terms of finding new stars.

BCB president and head coach have previously talked about the tremendous pipeline to the national team but coming to this edition's BPL, batters had struggled at the front end of the tournament despite a few promising knocks from a few stars. Following the Sylhet phase of the tournament, the return to Dhaka and then the beginning of Chattogram phase have been good in terms of providing more suitable environment for finding T20 talents.

But it has mostly been players such as Tawhid Hridoy or Mohammad Naim, already with experience of serving the national team, that have put on performances. Only new local star to get noticed through this edition's BPL was Aliss Al Islam of Comilla Victorians, who managed to get into the Tigers' T20 setup for the upcoming Sri Lanka series with his mystery spin.

"It's been a bit of a mix. Even though there was nothing very big, right now in the Chittagong phase, we're seeing good things. Bowlers have been bowling well for a while so even if nothing exceptional was found,' it's not too bad either," he told reporters at Chattogram today.

The ongoing BPL was set to be the stage to not only improve T20 skills but also gauge skill levels heading into the T20 World Cup in June this year. Razzak says that Aliss's unorthodox style could be an asset which is why he was picked.

"Aliss bowled well and the biggest thing was that he is a little unorthodox. So we want to see how he is since if he is good at that [international] level, it will be a good option for the team," Razzak said.

Younger stars such as Afif Hossain and Shamim Hossain too failed to make the cut in the upcoming series while veterans such as Mahmudullah Riyad turned out with performances in this BPL. Razzak said that the latest central contract list had nothing to do with Mahmudullah's return to the T20 lineup for the upcoming Sri Lanka series and if the batter continues playing like he is doing, he will be in contention for the World Cup.

"Right now Riyad is playing well and naturally he was included in the side and if he keeps on doing well, he will be in consideration for the World Cup," Razzak reminded.