Barisal Bulls have finished bottom in the points table with only four wins out of 12 games in the ongoing fourth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20. Barisal selected Dav Whatmore as their coach ahead of the tournament. And the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim was selected as skipper. Whatmore had previously worked as the coach of Bangladesh. He has vast knowledge regarding Bangladesh cricket. The Whatmore-Mushfiqur combination initially brought success for Barisal but did not last long at the end.
Barisal did have former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore on board but he too failed to inspire his charges to the playoffs
DHAKA TRIBUNEBarisal started their campaign losing to Dhaka Dynamites on November 8. But they came back strong winning three matches in a row. Their win against Chittagong Vikings was perhaps their performance of the tournament. At one stage, Chittagong, batting first, were 112 for no loss after 12 overs. But from that position, Barisal fought back brilliantly, restricting Chittagong to 163 and eventually winning the match by six wickets. Opening batsman Dawid Malan and No 3 batsman Shahriar Nafees formed a 150-run partnership - the highest in the tournament so far – sealing a win for Barisal at the end.
But after such a good start, Barisal lost their way and suffered consecutive defeats in their next six matches. It was mainly their bowling performance and fielding display which let them down. Sloppy fielding in key moments cost them a few matches. Barisal won their penultimate match of the round robin stage against Rajshahi Kings and kept alive their slim chances of qualifying for the playoffs. But in their last match, Barisal lost to Rangpur Riders and finished their campaign on a low note.
Local players
Barisal's Shahriar Nafees started well but much like his side, faded away as the tournament wore on
DHAKA TRIBUNEMushfiq was the best Barisal batsman on show, scoring 341 runs with an average of 37.88 and a strike rate of 134.78. Shahriar also played well in the first phase but later lost his form. In the process, Barisal’s batting struggled a bit as the team were over-reliant on Mushfiq. Shahriar scored 292 runs in 12 matches. Apart from Mushfiq and Shahriar, no other local batsmen, including Nadif Chowdhury and opener Shamsur Rahman, played well.
Amid high expectations, Barisal picked young pacer Abu Haider Rony in the players draft'. Rony was arguably the best bowler for Comilla Victorians last year, steering his side to the title with his death-over bowling. But Rony has failed to repeat his heroics and was unable to produce any significant performance in BPL 4. The tall left-arm paceman played seven matches for Barisal and picked up only four wickets with an average of 53.45. Another pacer Al Amin Hossian also failed to rise to the occasion and gave birth to controversies with his off-field activities. The right-arm pacer picked five wickets from as many matches. Only Taijul Islam performed notably with his left-arm spinners, taking 12 wickets.
Foreign players
Barisal's English batsman Dawid Malan was the best foreign player for his side
DHAKA TRIBUNEEnglish batsman Malan played some good knocks and finished the tournament with 240 runs with an average of 30. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera scored 163 runs in his 11 innings and picked up nine wickets. Barisal expected a little bit more from the Lankan with the bat as he is known for his big-hitting ability. West Indies all-rounder Rayad Emrit took nine wickets from as many matches. Lankan pair Jeevan Mendis and Dilshan Munaweera did not perform according to expectations with the former scoring 146 runs from eight matches and the latter making 44 runs in six matches.
SquadLocal playersAbu Haider (bowler), Al Amin Hossain (bowler), Dhiman Ghosh (wicketkeeper-batsman), Fazle Rabbi (bowler), Kamrul Islam Rabbi (bowler), Mehedi Hasan (all-rounder), Monir Hossain (bowler), Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper-batsman), Nadif Chowdhury (batsman), Shahin Hossain (batsman), Shahriar Nafees (batsman), Shamsur Rahman (batsman) and Taijul Islam (bowler).
Foreign playersCarlos Brathwaite (West Indies/all-rounder), Josh Cobb (England/batsman), Rayad Emrit (West Indies/bowler), Dawid Malan (England/batsman), Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan/all-rounder), Dilshan Munaweera (Sri Lanka/all-rounder), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka/all-rounder) and Rumman Raees (Pakistan/bowler).
Last 12 matches: LWWWLLLLLLWL
BPL 4 statistics Statistics source: ESPNcricinfo
Barisal did have former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore on board but he too failed to inspire his charges to the playoffs DHAKA TRIBUNEBarisal started their campaign losing to Dhaka Dynamites on November 8. But they came back strong winning three matches in a row. Their win against Chittagong Vikings was perhaps their performance of the tournament. At one stage, Chittagong, batting first, were 112 for no loss after 12 overs. But from that position, Barisal fought back brilliantly, restricting Chittagong to 163 and eventually winning the match by six wickets. Opening batsman Dawid Malan and No 3 batsman Shahriar Nafees formed a 150-run partnership - the highest in the tournament so far – sealing a win for Barisal at the end.
But after such a good start, Barisal lost their way and suffered consecutive defeats in their next six matches. It was mainly their bowling performance and fielding display which let them down. Sloppy fielding in key moments cost them a few matches. Barisal won their penultimate match of the round robin stage against Rajshahi Kings and kept alive their slim chances of qualifying for the playoffs. But in their last match, Barisal lost to Rangpur Riders and finished their campaign on a low note.Local players
Barisal's Shahriar Nafees started well but much like his side, faded away as the tournament wore on DHAKA TRIBUNEMushfiq was the best Barisal batsman on show, scoring 341 runs with an average of 37.88 and a strike rate of 134.78. Shahriar also played well in the first phase but later lost his form. In the process, Barisal’s batting struggled a bit as the team were over-reliant on Mushfiq. Shahriar scored 292 runs in 12 matches. Apart from Mushfiq and Shahriar, no other local batsmen, including Nadif Chowdhury and opener Shamsur Rahman, played well.
Amid high expectations, Barisal picked young pacer Abu Haider Rony in the players draft'. Rony was arguably the best bowler for Comilla Victorians last year, steering his side to the title with his death-over bowling. But Rony has failed to repeat his heroics and was unable to produce any significant performance in BPL 4. The tall left-arm paceman played seven matches for Barisal and picked up only four wickets with an average of 53.45. Another pacer Al Amin Hossian also failed to rise to the occasion and gave birth to controversies with his off-field activities. The right-arm pacer picked five wickets from as many matches. Only Taijul Islam performed notably with his left-arm spinners, taking 12 wickets.Foreign players
Barisal's English batsman Dawid Malan was the best foreign player for his side DHAKA TRIBUNEEnglish batsman Malan played some good knocks and finished the tournament with 240 runs with an average of 30. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera scored 163 runs in his 11 innings and picked up nine wickets. Barisal expected a little bit more from the Lankan with the bat as he is known for his big-hitting ability. West Indies all-rounder Rayad Emrit took nine wickets from as many matches. Lankan pair Jeevan Mendis and Dilshan Munaweera did not perform according to expectations with the former scoring 146 runs from eight matches and the latter making 44 runs in six matches.SquadLocal playersAbu Haider (bowler), Al Amin Hossain (bowler), Dhiman Ghosh (wicketkeeper-batsman), Fazle Rabbi (bowler), Kamrul Islam Rabbi (bowler), Mehedi Hasan (all-rounder), Monir Hossain (bowler), Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper-batsman), Nadif Chowdhury (batsman), Shahin Hossain (batsman), Shahriar Nafees (batsman), Shamsur Rahman (batsman) and Taijul Islam (bowler).Foreign playersCarlos Brathwaite (West Indies/all-rounder), Josh Cobb (England/batsman), Rayad Emrit (West Indies/bowler), Dawid Malan (England/batsman), Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan/all-rounder), Dilshan Munaweera (Sri Lanka/all-rounder), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka/all-rounder) and Rumman Raees (Pakistan/bowler).Last 12 matches: LWWWLLLLLLWLBPL 4 statistics