Tait embraces 'challenge' as Bangladesh eye series win

Tait embraces 'challenge' as Bangladesh eye series win

Bangladesh won the second game and will be looking to seal the series.

Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait on Monday urged his side to not take Ireland for granted but at the same pointed out the need to not complicate things in the three-match T20I series decider at Chattogram, scheduled on December 2.

The series, which will be Bangladesh's last bilateral T20 assignment before the T20 World Cup in February, is currently tied at 1-1 as the hosts fought back after going down in the opening game. "Ireland has played some good cricket and they've got some good players. They look like they've got a really organized T20 team," said Tait adding that they are happy to be challenged.

"For us, we want the good challenge. That's what we want. Our next series is a World Cup, and it doesn't get any bigger than that for T20 cricket. I think we don't need to complicate our thoughts too much. I think we just need to play good cricket and win the game," he said.

"Every time you win a match, every time you win an international match, you gain some confidence out of that."

Tait also heaped praise on Mustafizur Rahman for remaining calm despite all the noise that comes his way playing international cricket. "Fizz is full of experience and he keeps everything very simple," said Tait.

"He (Mustafizur) knows his strengths. He has played all over the world. He has set high standards and people expect good performances from him. He has always performed well because that is what the best players do. From the IPL to everywhere else, teams want him because he is a quality world class player," he said adding that he also has been in regular communication with Taskin Ahmed, who is currently playing the T10 League in Dubai.

"I saw Taskin playing in the T10," Tait said. "I have a great relationship with him. He is an important player for us, a senior player and a good leader. We speak regularly. He is not just a fast bowler, he is a leader. Everyone follows him. It is a pleasure to work with him. I first saw him many years ago and now he is a much better player, a leader. It is a privilege to have someone like him in the squad," he said.

Meanwhile, Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan said aggression will be the key as they seek a rare series win. "We did really really well over the last two games," said Malan. "We obviously haven't had the amount of cricket that we would have wanted throughout the year, but that's in the past. We are really focusing on where we are at.

"The T20 game has evolved massively. We really want to free our players to go out there and express themselves. Most of the time in this format you play on plastic surfaces and there are big runs scored. We've been very clear with that messaging - take the game on from ball one," he said.

The emergence of Tim Tector, who has impressed in his first two outings of the tour with his confident stroke play, is considered as one of the biggest positives for Ireland and Malan said he will back him to play his aggressive brand of cricket. "He (Tim Tector) has been doing really well back home and trying to break into the team and it's great to see that he goes out there and plays his natural game," he said.

"Hopefully, he (Tim Tector) can keep doing that tomorrow and as we head into the World Cup. We got a nice opportunity this afternoon to put some work into the areas we want to improve. Now it's about coming out here tomorrow and hopefully getting our goals done," he concluded.

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BPL Auction: Mohammad Naim becomes most expensive player

BPL Auction: Mohammad Naim becomes most expensive player

Mohammad Naim was the most expensive player at the auction.

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) player auction finally returned after nine editions at a city hotel on Sunday. This was the BPL's first auction since the inaugural edition in 2012 as a players draft was in place since then. Mohammad Naim was the only player to get more than BDT 1 crore (USD 88,000 approx) as he was bought by Chittagong Royals.

Naim was the first player to come up in the auction when the process opened an hour later as the board was waiting to get clearance from the High Court as nine cricketers filed writ petition against them after being excluded from the auction in relation to fixing related charges.

Rangpur Riders took the second and third most expensive players in the auction, when they bought Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das for USD 73,600 and USD 56,000 respectively. There were however no initial bids for veterans Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, who were both in category B.

Later however, the auctioneer brought up Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur after a request from BCB director and Rangpur Riders chief executive Ishtiaque Sadeque and his team Riders picked up Mahmudullah while Rajshahi Warriors took Mushfiqur, for their base prices BDT 35 lakh (USD 28,000 approx).

Among the uncapped players, Habibur Rahman Sohan, was taken by Noakhali Express for USD 40,000 on the back of his recent performances as he did well for Bangladesh A in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament. Mohammad Mithun triggered a paddle-raising duel that took him from Tk22 lakh to Tk52 lakh. Newcomer Abdul Gaffar Saqlain shot from 18 lakh to 44 lakh whereas SM Meherob Hasan joined the party with 39 lakh.

While hundreds of foreign cricketers remained unsold, Dasun Shanaka was the most expensive among the overseas players, when Dhaka Capitals took him for USD 55,000. Noakhali Express can claim themselves to be lucky as they picked Mahidul Islam and Jaker Ali for their base price. Had the auction guidelines been taken into account, all the teams could have bid for them. According to auction bylaws a team has to pick minimum two cricketers from Grade A and B (combined) while they can have six cricketers from C and D ( combined) and three cricketers from E and F (combined).

After picking these 11 cricketers they have to pick one more cricketer from any grade to fill the the minimum criteria of 12 players at the auction. However, they had the option to pick a maximum of 14 local players in the auction. So every franchise had the option to pick more than two cricketers from grade A and B (combined).

However, confusion began when Chattogram Royals picked two cricketers on the trot. Rajshahi Warriors head coach Hannan Sarkar claimed that Chattogram cannot bid for any more players from A and B categories and everyone obliged. As a result after 10 out of the 12 cricketers from A and B categories (combined) were picked by five franchises, Noakhali got the chance to pick up Mahidul and Jaker at their base price as no other team were allowed to bid for them.

Noakhali head coach Khaled Mahmud was happy to be a beneficiary. "I am happy to get those two cricketers at their base price because I didn't expect it," Mahmud said.

Meanwhile, Rangpur Riders team director Shanian Taneem claimed that Mahmudullah was always in their team's plans even though they didn't bid for him initially. "If anyone thinks Mahmudullah Riyad went unsold, that's not entirely correct. Every team had limitations. With 14 players each in A and B categories and restrictions that we couldn't pick more than two, we had to choose based on strategy. But Mahmudullah was always in our plans. A player of his calibre should be in any team's plans," said Shanian.

The BPL, scheduled from December 26 to January 23, will be played by six teams - Dhaka Capitals, Rangpur Riders, Rajshahi Warriors, Noakhali Express, Sylhet Titans and Chittagong Royals.

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