Although local batters flourished in the high-scoring opening phase of the ongoing 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in Dhaka, which concluded on Friday, most batters of the national T20I team struggled to get going, something they would be hoping to change in the upcoming Sylhet phase.

In the Dhaka phase, which had eight matches, batters like Anamul Haque Bijoy, Yasir Ali, Mahidul Islam Ankon and Saif Hassan stepped up and made an impact for their respective franchises, more than the overseas batters in some cases.

But other than Shamim Hossain, who hit a 38-ball 78 for Chittagong Kings against Khulna Tigers, the other national team batters could not score big on the good batting surfaces at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Dhaka Capitals opener Liton Das, who recently led Bangladesh to a 3-0 series sweep over the West Indies in the Caribbean, is still searching for form, amassing just 33 runs in three innings, which has not helped his side's cause either, who are winless after three matches and are currently at the bottom of the points table.

Meanwhile, Najmul Hossain Shanto, who returned to competitive cricket through last month's National Cricket League T20 after a month-long rehab for his groin injury, is yet to find his feet as he made only nine runs in two games for the star-studded Fortune Barishal.

Barishal have chosen to sit out marquee English batter Dawin Malan to make way for Shanto to open the innings alongside skipper Tamim Iqbal. But if Shanto fails to get going, he could be demoted in the line-up or even lose his place to Malan.

Shanto's Barishal teammate Towhid Hridoy (36 runs in two games) and Dhaka's Tanzid Hasan Tamim (58 runs in three matches) failed to shine in the Dhaka phase while Sylhet Strikers' Jaker Ali made a 33-ball 24 against Rangpur Riders in his only innings so far.

For Habibul Bashar, current head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) women's wing and a former national selector, Tiger batters failing to make their mark was the only blemish in an otherwise promising opening phase.

"I can't say I'm fully satisfied. I really expected our front-line cricketers like Liton, Tanzid Tamim, Towhid Hridoy and Shanto to do well and dominate in this BPL. There can't be any excuses because this year the wickets are really good," Bashar told The Daily Star yesterday.

Bashar hoped that in the Sylhet phase, which is set to begin on Monday, and in the Chattogram phase, which will begin on January 16, these batters would make up for the duds in Dhaka with big scores.

"The Sylhet wicket is usually better than the Dhaka wicket and the Chattogram wicket is even better. The conditions are really good for batting. I think they are getting the good platform to do well.

"They are all skillful and proven players. It should be easy for them to score a lot of runs… We may see them score big runs from the second phase of the tournament," he added.

The former Bangladesh skipper was also thrilled to see the local batters doing well in Dhaka.

"I think the quality of cricket was really good [in Dhaka phase]. I have seen some quality innings from our local players which were really inspiring and encouraging. Our local players are hitting sixes over long-off, long-on and cover which we hardly saw before. You can't do that with just muscle power, you also need skill and courage.

"Yasir Rabbi played a good innings, Shamim also has done well. The innings Mahidul played [59 not out off 29 balls], we have seen very few Bangladeshi cricketers playing such innings. Overall, it's really encouraging that they are making an impact for their respective sides."