Even though some of the national prospects have managed to get some runs in the existing National Cricket League (NCL), more is anticipated from them in the next match between Bangladesh and New Zealand that is scheduled to take place in Bangladesh immediately after the ongoing World Cup.
On Day 4, all four of the first-round NCL matches produced outcomes, with Dhaka Metro and Chattogram Division winning victories over Sylhet Division and Barishal Division, respectively.
Khulna Division defeated Rajshahi, its hosts, by a gigantic margin of 400 runs on Saturday. Afif scored 63 runs off of 50 balls in the first innings, and both Soumya Sarkar and Anamul Haque scored 50 runs in the second innings for Khulna Division. Mohammad Mithun of Khulna scored runs in both of the innings, scoring a hundred runs in the second innings after scoring fifty runs in the first innings.
The national selector, Habibul Bashar, was nevertheless unsatisfied with the performances of several of the country’s top prospects, like Afif and Soumya.
“In point of fact, they have to make a lot of points. Although the strategy itself is sound, getting a fluent 50–60 runs on the board is not helpful. You can score even if your strike rate is between 100 and 120, or even 50, but knocks worth 50 or 60 runs won’t help you. The likes of Soumya and Afif ought to be scoring tonnes because if they aren’t able to score hundreds here, how are they going to do it in Tests? Yesterday, Bashar was quoted in The Daily Star.
Specifically, these two players have rotated in and out of the national squad on multiple occasions. Even though the Duke ball that is used in the NCL swings around more and presents a greater challenge to the batters, the selectors believe that scoring a lot of runs in the NCL can help prepare a player for a better performance in the international circuit.
“The message [to score huge runs] is already there, and in all honesty, they don’t need to be given it because they are mature enough to understand it already. Bashar made the assertion that scoring was necessary when one was not a member of the squad.
It should come as no surprise that the selection for Bangladesh’s national team requested more from hitters competing in local competition, given that the country’s hitting has had trouble remaining consistent in recent games.
Bowling, on the other hand, appeared to be heading in a more positive direction. Rezaur Rahman Raja made his comeback from injury with a four-goal performance in Dhaka Metro’s victory at Sylhet, which Bashar witnessed in person as he was a spectator at the game.
“Raja actually bowled very well, but Khaled Ahmed seemed a bit flat,” the commentator said. Raja appears to be in terrific shape, and one positive feature is that he bowled effectively with the older ball. This is something that I consider to be one of his primary talents. The quick pace at which he was bowling was exactly what we had hoped to see. In general, he thought the bowling was satisfactory.