Dhaka – The West Indian explosive batsman Chris Gayle is all set to feature in the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Tuesday when his team Rangpur Riders will face Comilla Victorians. The match will commence at 5:20 pm at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.The southpaw has arrived in Dhaka two days ago but a delayed NOC prevented him from taking the field. A source close to Riders confirmed to UNB that Gayle has no more barrier to play on Tuesday.
“Chris Gayle failed to play in the previous match of Rangpur Riders as his NOC arrived lately to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). So as per the BPL by-laws, he had to wait for the NOC. But now there is no problem in Gayle’s participation in the league,” the source told UNB on Monday.
Gayle featured in 11 matches for Rangpur Riders during the BPL 2017 and struck two centuries and as many half-centuries which helped the Riders to clinch the title in their inaugural participation in the league.
Riders played two matches in the ongoing league so far and won one of them. Despite the poor start to the tournament losing the first match to Chittagong Vikings, they bounced back strongly beating Khulna Titans in the second game.
They will look to continue their winning streak against Comilla Victorians though the Victorians also upbeat after starting the tournament with a comprehensive win over Sylhet Sixers.
“We hope it will be an exciting encounter against the Riders. They won their last match and we also did same. We have a balanced team, and our plan is to go ahead step by step,” Mahide Hasan, the all-rounder of Victorians, told the reporter on Monday.
Rilee Rossouw, the South African star of the Riders, played the pivotal role in the first win of Riders in the season. He struck an unbeaten 76 against Khulna Titans which set the platform of a win of Rangpur Riders and eventually, the Riders won the match by eight runs.
On the other hand, Comilla Victorians won their first match against Sylhet by four wickets. Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani superstar struck unbeaten 39 off 25 balls to ensure the win.UNB
