Rangpur Riders assistant coach Mohammad Ashraful blamed his team's unexpected exit from the Bangladesh Premier League T20 on the absence of Pakistan all-rounder Khushdil Shah and the inconsistency dished out by local talents.  

Tournament favourites Rangpur succumbed to a nine-wicket thrashing against Khulna Tigers in the Eliminator of the tournament in Mirpur on Monday which saw them exit the competition. Despite flying in English batter James Vince, and T20 stars Andre Russell and Tim David for this particular fixture, Rangpur dished out their worst batting display of the edition and were bundled out for 85 which Khulna chased down in 10.2 overs to cement their place in Qualifier 2.

"I think Khushdil Shah's departure was a big setback for us….After his departure, no cricketer could take his place," Ashraful told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium after the match. 

"The way our local players started, they didn't play in the same fashion in the last five games."

Khushdil played a big impact in Rangpur's initial success in the tournament as he smashed 298 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 175.29 and also scalped 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.03 to help Rangpur to an eight-match winning streak in their first eight matches. They became the first team to qualify for the playoffs but lost the next five.

Khushdil's impressive display helped him earn a spot in Pakistan's Champions Trophy squad after which he had to leave Rangpur due to his national commitments, starting with a tri-series at home involving South Africa and New Zealand. 

Meanwhile, local players like Saif Hassan, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Nahid Hasan had also started well in the tournament but faltered as it went on which dented Rangpur's overall display, leading to five consecutive losses and exit from the tournament.

"Khushdil's aggressive batting was the reason behind our GSL [Global Super League] success. We scored 113 runs of which he made a fifty off 30 balls. We needed a similar type of cricketer. We hoped that Sheikh Mahedi or Saif Hasan or anyone else would play with such aggression but we did not get it," said Ashraful, who also admitted that it wasn't ideal to bring a few marquee foreign players at the eleventh hour and accommodate them in the playing eleven. 

Russell, David, and Vince had played in the ILT20 in Dubai yesterday evening before taking a flight to Dhaka for the BPL Eliminator. The decision to accommodate all three in the lineup backfired for Rangpur as these players collectively made 12 runs.

"We had faced a similar situation last year. They changed a lot of foreign players every two games. We had a plan in the players' draft that we will pick players who will play most of our matches," said Ashraful.

"Khushdil, Akif Javed and Iftikhar Ahmed played nearly all the matches. Khushdil left the team midway after getting called to the national team. We also had Steven Taylor from the beginning. But he couldn't play the way he played in the GSL. That's why the management wanted to bring in big names. But it's obviously not ideal. If anyone doesn't stay with the team for at least two to three days, he can't be recognised as well," he concluded.