Sports Desk

Rangpur Riders skipper Nurul Hasan believes that it is a wake-up call for the title aspirant as Comilla Victorians ended their eight-match winning streak in the Chattogram phase ender of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Tuesday.

Comilla booked their place in the first qualifier after they clinched a six-wicket win over Rangpur during their penultimate league match, though both teams are expected to meet at the first BPL qualifiers, scheduled at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on 26 February.

“It’s alarming sign before the qualifier (first) but hopefully we will come back strongly in the qualifier,” Nurul told the reporters following their defeat in Chattogram on Tuesday.

“We have played lot of matches on a row and it’s alarming for us and we need to understand where we have to work on before the qualifier,” he added.

“As a team we played well in the last eight (matches) and then we had a bad day and everyone is well aware where we had made mistake and we hope to rectify those mistakes and make a comeback in the qualifier,” he added.

Nurul said that their batting unit needs to pull up their socks as he is well aware of they want to be successful they need to take advantage of the first six overs.

“In T20, first six overs are very important and could not do that in this game (against Comilla) but hopefully we can turn things around in our next game,” said Nurul pointing his fingers towards their score after power play, 46-4 to be precise.

“Throughout the tournament we did well as bowling unit and certainly we did some mistake but hope to rectify those mistakes before the qualifier,” he said adding that he is not worried with the form of Brendon King, who is yet to score a half century in the eight games that he played so far in the competition for the Riders.

“I think he (Brendon) is working very hard and team management is fully supporting him and he is trying to give his best,” he said.

“No (don’t think Brendon’s performance) is a big worry because I think cricket is a team game and we want to play as a team throughout the tournament and want to play as a team in the qualifier as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fortune Barishal will book their place for the second qualifier against Chattogram Challengers if they beat Comilla Victorians in their last group phase at the SBNS on 23 February.

Even if Barishal lose they will have a chance to qualify by virtue of their NRR (net run rate) which is currently higher than Khulna Tigers.

On the other hand, Khulna will eye on the first game result between Comilla and Barishal because if the latter team lose the match by a significant margin, a gate will open for Khulna to play beyond the group phase.