Star-studded Chittagong fail to deliver on promise
Chittagong had many marquee names in their ranks who performed at different stages, but they never found the consistency they needed as a team
Mohammad Isam
06-Dec-2016
Tamim Iqbal was prolific, and there were other strong individual performers, but Chittagong didn't click as a team • BCB
Tournament overview
Chittagong Vikings would have felt underwhelmed after they were the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs. They had a great opportunity to make it past Rajshahi Kings but blew it twice after making wonderful starts, with bat and ball.
It was a strange campaign for Chittagong. Many of their players performed well but the team couldn't quite find consistency. Captain Tamim Iqbal ended as the tournament's highest-scorer while Mohammad Nabi stood out as an allrounder. Shoaib Malik, Anamul Haque, Dwayne Smith, Taskin Ahmed and Imran Khan all chipped in at certain stages.
Perhaps, they also waited for Chris Gayle to tear into opponents in the latter stages of the tournament, but that didn't happen. Chittagong won't be unhappy looking back at their campaign, but won't be overly satisfied either.
High point
Chittagong bounced back after losing three matches in a row by beating Rajshahi in style. After running into early trouble, Nabi bailed them out with an unbeaten 87, slamming six sixes. Then, Taskin Ahmed's five wickets shut out the chase in front of their home crowd at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Low point
In the latter part of the tournament, Chittagong couldn't quite close out two games against Rajshahi. The one that will hurt them the most was the Eliminator. They failed to take advantage of a smooth start with the bat and posted a modest total. When Rajshahi had lost six wickets by the 11th over, they were overpowered by Darren Sammy's counter-attack.
Top of the class
A pity that Chittagong couldn't do justice to Tamim Iqbal's form throughout this campaign. He scored 476 runs, the second highest in a BPL season, and he equalled Shamsur Rahman's record of six fifties in a season.
Under-par performer
Chris Gayle couldn't make a fifty in five matches, incongruous with his previous performances in the BPL. At the critical end of the tournament, Chittagong banked on his ability to destroy the opposition's bowling attack and morale.
Tip for 2017
If the current franchise owners continue to run the Chittagong team, they can make do with 2016's bowling line-up but have to tweak the batting to suit Bangladesh conditions.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84