The traditional club of the country is Mohammedan Sporting Club. The team has not seen the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League title for a long time. In the previous edition, Shakib Al Hasan could not become the champion. This time the average quality team got some success but the team has already missed out on the title. The Super League starts from Monday. Mohammedan, who is third in the points table, now has only one goal, to be the runner-up. Mohammedan captain Imrul Kayes said so.
Despite falling out of the title race, Mohammedan’s performance this season hasn’t been bad at all. A bit of performance from the top-order batsmen would have allayed the lingering resentment of the Mohammedan fans. However, forgetting their regrets, their captain looked ahead. Mohammedan Super League will start with a match against Prime Bank on Monday. In the group stage, the team is number three with 16 points from 8 wins in 11 matches. Abahani is very close to the title after winning all 11 matches with 22 points. In this situation it is very difficult for Mohammedan to top Abahani.
According to the reality, perhaps the only goal of captain Imrul now is to be the runner-up. Talking to Bangla Tribune, he said that, ‘Our aim now is to be the runner-up. Abahani is almost a champion. Maybe win two matches. We need to win four matches to reach our target. The task is difficult, but not impossible. I will enter the field tomorrow with the aim of becoming the runner-up.
Mohammedan have lost three matches out of 11 matches in the group stage. Apart from the strong Abahani, the team had to lose against Shinepukur and Gazi group cricketers. On paper, the defeat against Abahani, a strong team, can be accepted, but Mohammedan supporters cannot accept defeat against Shinepukur and Gazi Group. Imrul also admitted that the failure of the top order batsmen has had some impact on the points table, ‘It is true that our top order is not getting regular runs. As our backup is not robust, due to which no one had a chance to change. Ariful Jr got injured, we didn’t get his replacement that time. Besides, those who are a bit off-form, we have not had the chance to see anyone like that. Due to these reasons, we had to face problems in several matches in the group stage.
Imrul feels that there is no way to compare Mohammedan with Abahani, who are in the race for the championship, ‘Abahani is a very strong team on paper and pen. We are not even close to them. Their backup players are also very strong. They have backup players in every division. We don’t have this issue. In terms of experience, Miraj, I, Riyad Bhai, Roni, were also drawing. None of us are bad. But overall, if you think about it, we can’t compare with Abahani in any way, not in terms of payment or papers.’
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