The teams will have to face a different kind of challenge of coping up without their several key players due to national duty as the Super League of the ongoing Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League starts today.聽
Mohammedan Sporting Club, table-toppers after the league phase, will take on Legends of Rupganj at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, while Abahani Limited, who have equal points but are behind Mohammedan due to head-to-head results, face Agrani Bank Cricket Club at the BKSP-3.聽
Gazi Group Cricketers and Gulshan Cricket Club will face-off at the BKSP-4. All the matches are scheduled to begin at 9:00am.聽
National team captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, along with Mominul Haque and Nahid Rana, has left Abahani to join the national team preparation camp for the Zimbabwe series in Sylhet.聽
But head coach Hannan Sarkar remained unfazed as he said that they were prepared for this.聽
鈥業t was not surprising for us that these players would leave for the Test series, and we knew that since we were forming the team,鈥� Hannan told the reporters on Wednesday.
鈥楽o we organised the team with backup players within our budget. We鈥檙e now ready to go. The players also prepared themselves mentally.鈥�
Mohammedan, however, are facing more damage apart from the players who left for national duty. According to their manager Sazzad Hossain, eight players were missing due to several reasons.聽
They roped in some players like Farhad Hossain and Nabil Samad, who were not taking part in the league this season.
Pacer Mustafizur Rahman is also set to feature for them but won鈥檛 be available throughout the Super League.聽
鈥楳ustafiz has agreed to play for us,鈥� said Sazzad. 鈥楤ut there鈥檚 an issue that he has to take rest for a match after playing two. So we鈥檝e got to calculate when we should play him. It will be very tricky. But he will play for us, surely.鈥�
Their stand-in captain, Towhid Hridoy, is also facing a two-match ban after breaching the code of conduct.
But Sazzad said that they sent a letter to the BCB to reduce the sanction considering their overall circumstances.
