After 45 matches in BPL, the stage is set for the title fight. This time, Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barisal, who survived the seven-team battle, will enter the field with the aim of winning the title. The two strongest teams of the tournament will face each other in the mega final today. The match will be played at Mirpur Shere Bangla Stadium at seven o’clock in the evening. Cricket lovers from 64 countries including Bangladesh can watch the match. Bangladesh’s Gazi Television and T Sports will watch this crowded fight.
The two most star-studded teams of this year’s BPL are Comilla and Barisal. Basically they have increased the attraction of the tournament by bringing good quality foreign cricketers. Along with that, the natives were also the best in the combination of these two teams. Not only was the title of the best on paper, the two teams reached the title stage with the best performance on the field. Barisal played the final three times before but could not touch the title even once.
On the other hand, BPL means the dominance of Comilla. They reached the final four times in the previous nine seasons and won the title four times. Comilla played for the first time in the BPL under the leadership of Mashrafe Bin Murtaza. After two seasons, in 2018, he brought home the second title again. Then the team won two consecutive titles in 2022 and 2023 BPL. In the current season, Rangpur beat Riders in the first qualifier and reached the final for the fifth time. This time their opponent is Barisal. In 2022, Mohammad Salahuddin’s disciples won the third title by defeating this team. If they beat Barisal on Friday, Comilla will be the hat-trick champion along with the fifth title.
This is Comilla’s fifth final in the BPL, third in a row. They never lost the title before reaching the final. The team’s wicket keeper batter Zaker Ali Anik is hopeful that this time will not be an exception, ‘Barisal has come to the final with a very good performance. We always respect all opponents. The final will be no exception. Always try to play our best cricket. I will try this in the final as well.
On the other hand, Barisal franchise has reached the final for the fourth time. In the first season in 2012, they lost to Dhaka Gladiators. Barisal lost to Comilla in 2015 as well. Fate has not changed even in 2022. This time they lost the title to Comilla. After a year, Barisal is going to fight for the title in another final led by Tamim. Comilla is their opponent this time too. Can Barisal, who stumbled twice to them, break the title drought?
Mushfiq said, ‘Let’s see, I have a desire (to win the trophy for the first time). Everyone has a wish, the rest is the wish of the superior. I have come so far… I will try to win the championship. Comilla has never lost a final. Who knows, maybe this will be the first time to lose!’
Whichever team wins the title, Friday’s battle will be evenly matched. Both the teams are quite strong with domestic and foreign cricketers. Comilla has several influential domestic cricketers including Liton Das, Tawheed Hriday, Zaker, Tanveer Islam. There are also foreign stars who are the peddlers of T20 cricket. Everyone knows how terrifying Moeen Ali, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine can be on their day.
Barisal is also a star team. Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiq and Mahmudullah, who have been influential in Bangladesh cricket for a long time, are playing in this team. Apart from this there are cricketers like Soumya Sarkar, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Mohammad Saifuddin and Taijul Islam. The stardom of foreign cricketers is not less. Caribbean all-rounder Kyle Myers, Obed McCoy are in the team. South African explosive batsman David Miller also joined Barisal at the end. Not being able to win the title with such a team will be a big regret for Barisal.
But cricket is a fixed day game. Matches cannot be won with the best team on paper. If you want to win, you have to play the best cricket in a certain match on a certain day. Miraj knows that too. At the unveiling of the trophy on Thursday, he reminded that, ‘everything depends on playing well on a given day, cricket is a game, whoever does well on that day wins. Earlier, Barisal-Comilla final was held, Barisal lost by one run. I hope this time I can present another good match, everyone will enjoy it.’
But Comilla is one place ahead of Barisal. The team knows very well how to play independently in the final. However, Barisal’s deficiency here is obvious. The team is yet to win the title after playing in the final three times. Cricket lovers are waiting to see if Barisal can break the title drought under the leadership of Tamim. And after just a few hours, it will be decided who will win the title of the 10th season of BPL.
/RI/
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