Curtain rises on BPL T20 5

The stage is all set for the start of the much awaited BPL T20 2017 as the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, venue for the opening phase of the glittering tournament, is ready with international standard facilities and beautiful scenic views. All the seven participating teams of the BPL are now in Sylhet, the land of tea gardens in the north-eastern part of Bangladesh. The city is absolutely delighted at being able to host the first few matches of the money-spinning tournament and local fans are eagerly waiting for the start of the competition. In 2014, the first international match was played here with Ireland taking on Zimbabwe in the first round of the World T20. The beautiful venue, with a capacity of 18,000, has hosted six T20s since then. But this is the first time a big tournament like the BPL will be held here, much to the delight of the Sylhet fans. As a result, almost all the tickets have been sold out for the upcoming matches.One of the main attractions of the venue is the “green gallery” where a small hill has been prepared and arranged for fan sitting. The electronic scoreboard and beautiful Grand Stand make the venue even more beautiful. This is the first time electronic advertise board has been introduced in the BPL, as well as Bangladesh, and it will help the tournament to become even more digitalised and glitzy. A total of eight matches will be played here with the inaugural match between home team Sylhet Sixers and hot favourite and defending champion Dhaka Dynamites.

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Rangpur Riders captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza admitted that the stadium has all the facilities like any other international venue. “I think it’s an international venue. We have seen all kinds of facilities here. The new gallery and the green gallery are all international standard. The venue is beautiful as well,” Mashrafe said after their practice session Friday. Holder Dhaka will start their campaign Saturday and their skipper Shakib also expressed delight after returning to the picturesque venue.

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“I have played a lot of matches in Sylhet. I like this stadium very much. The surrounding environment is outstanding, like other beautiful venues all around the world. Definitely it’s a unique type of venue in our country,” Shakib said to the media after their training session Friday. Khulna Titans captain Mahmudullah also praised the newly-crafted two-storied gallery in the eastern side and is expecting a large crowd to come out and enjoy the cricket action. “The venue is beautiful. The last time I played here was in the Amber Cup. It was a T20 tournament. The gallery became more beautiful now. I hope the wicket will be good and a large number of crowd will enjoy the match. We will play two matches here and we want to win both,” said Mahmudullah.A total of seven teams will participate in this year’s tournament - Dhaka, Khulna, Comilla Victorians, Sylhet, Rajshahi Kings, Rangpur and Chittagong Vikings. The rules have been changed this season. This year, a team can play maximum five foreigners in their starting XI, compared to four last season. Two matches will be played in every matchday. The first game will start at 2pm local time while the second match begins at 7pm.