The ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) reached its climax today as the final match was played at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
The Comilla Victorians aimed to secure back-to-back BPL titles, having already won the trophy three times before, while the Sylhet Strikers, who made it to their first BPL final, hoped to clinch their maiden title.
In the previous BPL season, held in 2022, the Comilla Victorians won the title for the third time by beating Fortune Barisal in a thrilling final match.
The 2023 BPL final promised to be an exciting game, with both teams fielding strong XIs. Sylhet Strikers had a great run throughout the tournament and finished at the top of the points table in the league phase. However, they lost the first qualifier to Comilla and had to beat Rangpur Riders in the second qualifier to reach the final.
Possible starting XI for Sylhet Strikers:
1. Towhid Hridoy
2. Najmul Hossain Shanto
3. Mushfiqur Rahim (c)
4. Ryan Burl
5. George Linde
6. Thisara Perera
7. Mashrafe Mortaza
8. Zakir Hasan
9. Tanzim Hasan Sakib
10. Luke Wood
11. Rubel Hossain
Possible starting XI for Comilla Victorians:
1. Litton Das
2. Sunil Narine
3. Johnson Charles
4. Imrul Kayes (c)
5. Mosaddek Hossain
6. Moeen Ali
7. Jaker Ali
8. Andre Russell
9. Tanvir Islam
10. Mustafizur Rahman
11. Mukidul Islam
The match was scheduled to commence at 6:30 (GMT +6) pm, and a concert featuring renowned Bangladeshi bands took place at the venue before the game, adding to the excitement and anticipation of the spectators.
For those who couldn’t attend the match in person, live coverage of the BPL was available across various platforms worldwide, including TSports in Bangladesh, Fancode in India, Geo Super in Pakistan, Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Rabbit Hole BD’s official YouTube channel in Nepal and Afghanistan, BT Sport in Australia, DSports in Sri Lanka, Supersport in South East Asia and Africa, Hotstar in Canada and the United States, and Rabbit Hole BD’s official YouTube channel for the rest of the world.
The tournament leading run scorer is Najmul Hossain, with a total of 452 runs and an average of 37.66, while the most wickets were taken by a Najmul Hossain Shanto, with a total of 17 wickets in 12 innings.
