The ongoing season of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 has seen some local bowlers bowl consistently well and make good progress. Considering that the Afghanistan T20I series is knocking at the door and a T20 World Cup looming this year, local bowlers’ performance is a good sign for the national team selectors to include them in T20s in near future. Before the final of BPL, here are top five local bowlers who performed well in this BPL:
Mustafizur Rahman
Mustafizur is in fine form and great shape as the left-arm pacer picked up 18 wickets overall from 10 games for Comilla Victorians. He bowled with good rhythm and change of pace, and performed really well in the death overs. His economy rate is impressive as he conceded just 6.51 runs from almost 35 overs in the tournament so far. Mustafizur took a five-for as well.
Stat: Mustafizur bagged 18 wickets from 20 innings with an economy of 6.51 and best bowling figure of 5/27.
Shakib al Hasan
Ace all-rounder Shakib was in superb form with both bat and ball and earned five consecutive man of the match awards, which is a world record in recognized T20 cricket. The left-arm spinner took 15 wickets from 10 innings for Fortune Barishal and notched key wickets in crucial moments. The most impressive part of his bowling is the economy rate as Shakib gave away only 5.13 runs from 39 overs.
Stat: Shakib took 15 wickets from 10 games with an economy rate of 5.13 and best bowling figure of 3/23.
Mrittunjoy Chowdhury
Mrittunjoy can easily be considered as one of the best bowlers of the tournament. After initially missing the early phase, the young left-arm pacer played eight games for Chattogram Challengers and made a huge impact in the bowling attack. Mrittunjoy claimed a hat-trick against Sylhet Sunrisers in Chittagong, which is the first and only in this tournament, and also bowled a superb last over against Minister Group Dhaka while defending 11, giving his team a vital win that kept alive their playoff hopes. Overall, he took 15 wickets and that came from just eight innings.
Stat: Mrittunjoy took 15 wickets in eight innings with an economy of 9.14 and best bowling figure of 4/12.
Tanvir Islam
Left-arm spinner Tanvir took 14 wickets from 11 games for the Victorians, and became a crucial part of Comilla’s bowling attack despite other spin options like Sunil Narine or Moeen Ali. Tanvir bowled 40 overs and the most eye catching part of his bowling is the economy rate as the slow left-armer leaked 308 runs with an economy of just 7.79 before the final, which is quite good for T20 games. It was surely a learning curve for the young left-arm spinner in this BPL which will help him to become a better bowler in future.
Stat: Tanvir took 14 wickets from 11 innings with an economy of 7.79 and best bowling figure of 2/19.
Shariful Islam
Shariful, the U-19 World Cup champion bowler for the junior Tigers, became a regular weapon in the Tigers bowling armory along with Mustafizur in recent months. The left-armer had a decent tournament thus far as he notched 14 wickets from 12 games. One of his major roles is bowling in death overs and he performed superbly in a couple of games to earn a win for his side Chattogram. But the area to improve for the young pacer is economy rate as he bowled 41 overs and bled 9.48 per over.
Stat: Shariful bagged 14 wickets from 12 innings with best figure of 4/34 and economy rate of 9.48.
