Dhaka — The most prestigious first-cricket event of Bangladesh, the national cricket league, scheduled from October 5 will be a better ground for cricketers to develop their qualities, said former national captain Mohammad Ashraful. Before that the cricketers are gearing up for a fitness test which is a must to get a chance in any team of national league.Along with the regular domestic campaigners, most of the national cricketers will be playing this year’s national league- at least three rounds of the event.
Ashraful was among the cricketers who attended a personal training program on Thursday at the national academy ground in Mirpur, said he is looking forward to play better in the national league.
“I’m eagerly waiting to take part in the national league. As far as I know, most of the national cricketers will take part in this year’s national league, which will surely increase the value of the event,” Ashraful told the media.
Before starting gearing up the national league, Ashraful played about 40-45 matches in the Kent Premier League for Black Hit in England.
“This chance of match practice will help me play well in the national league,” Asharaful said.
“Most of the players of the national league remained idle for almost three months, but I played some matches in England which will help me to do better in the league,” he added.
Ashraful further said the authority set a benchmark saying everyone should score 11 or more the beep test in order to get chance in the national league. This will be tough for the players who are out of High-performance unit, under-23 team or the other BCB teams.
Shuvagata Hom, the all-rounder who remained out of the national set-up for a long time, believes it will be tough for the players to score 11 or more in the bees test.
“It (scoring 11 in beep test) is tough for the players who aren’t in the national team because we don’t get the practice facilities like the national players. We just have a five to seven-day practice session before the league starts,” he told the media.
This year’s national league will be held at nine venues of the country. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials have recently said that the wickets will better this time around.
Both Ashraful and Shuvagata also said they are expecting a better kind of wickets in this year’s national league. The better wickets help cricketers to improve their qualities, they added. UNB
