DHAKA, Dec 31, 2024 (BSS)- The behaviour of Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National
Cricket Stadium came as surprise for many in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier
League (BPL).

It was not as slow and low as it used to be. The bounce is even and the ball
comes to the bat nicely, giving the batters to dispatch it with ease.
Similarly, a bowler can still extract life from it if he remains disciplined.
Overall it's a sporting wicket for which the players have been craving for so
long.

Even though time is not ripe yet to say it changed the character radically,
it's true the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium has never seen a series of 190 plus total
in consecutive four matches.
 
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Faruque Ahmed said the sporting
wicket is the first step to make the BPL 'different' as promised.

Off the field the BPL was totally different this time than the previous
editions. The BCB unmasked the BPL mascot for the first time which made a
tour to create the type. Three concerts in three venues of the BPL were held.

But Faruque, the first cricketer who became BCB president, knew all those
efforts would go in vain if the standard of wicket remains low like the
previous time.

Although the responsibility for good cricket lies largely on the cricketers,
it is difficult to play good cricket if the wicket is not good. Before the
start of the BPL, the board president had a clear message to Mirpur's Sri
Lankan curator Gamini de Silva - "The wicket must be sporting, so that both
batters and bowlers get equal advantage."

"I had already instructed the curator that the wicket should be sporting. I
want such a wicket where batters can score runs and bowlers can take wickets
if he bowls well. Two and a half millimeters of grass has been kept on the
wicket. The grass could have been kept even less, but in that case the wicket
would not have been good later on. I have said to keep the wicket like this,"
Faruque told the reporters here today.

Relevantly, the BCB President mentioned that the ODI series against the West
Indies held in St. Kitts earlier this month. Bangladesh were swept in that
series but all matches of the series were high scoring, Bangladesh even lost,
scoring 294 and 321 in the first and last matches and that was an eye opener
for the team management.

They believe if Bangladesh batters get the opportunity to play on sporting
wickets regularly, they can hone the art of making 350 runs, which is now a
new standard in International Cricket.

But just because it is Mirpur, it cannot be guaranteed that the wicket will
remain like this in the remaining matches of the BPL. However, the BCB
President is optimistic, "The behavior of the wicket can change for many
reasons. I cannot say what will happen in the future. But I hope it will not
change much. The sporting wicket will remain. The spectators will see runs in
the BPL."