One might be surprised to see a team finish a tournament without a win when they have a number of national players including Habibul Bashar and Mashrafe Bin Mortuza.
The result of Khulna however showed the real picture of the National Cricket League, the first-class competition of the country. The star-studded Khulna side managed five draws in the four-day meet and lost all their five limited-over encounters to finish last in the six-team competition.
The players leisurely attitude towards the competition made it almost a 'picnic' affair but Khulna and former Bangladesh captain Bashar believes that it is a different story this time due to two major changes when the National League kicks-off across the country from October 19.
"After a very enthusiastic start, this competition gradually lost its charm because of little money and unavailability of the star players, who were always away in national duties. But now the good news is that the authority has offered a handsome match fee and hopefully, national players will also able to play a maximum number of matches," explained Bashar reflecting on the board's offer of Tk 15,000 and Tk 10,000 for the four-day and one-day matches respectively.
"I must admit that leading cricketers hardly had any motivation to play the league and I was no exception. But I am sure that it is a different story now and you will see a new Khulna this season. The NCL will be more competitive than the previous occasions," confessed the former national skipper, who didn't play any match in the last season, adding that the pitches are important to make it a success.
The 34-year-old right-hander also said that he is looking forward to the league seriously to get his form back, before the upcoming tour of New Zealand in December-January.
"NCL is very important for me. I haven't played a single match after coming back from Sri Lanka tour. I think the competition is also important for Mashrafe to rediscover his rhythm in the longer version," said Bashar adding that they will desperately miss the late Manjarul Islam Rana, who tragically died in a road accident earlier this year.
In fact, Rana was the highest scorer and wicket-taker (549 runs and 30 wickets) in the team last year before he met his fatal end. Sajjadul Hasan, who also died in the same accident, was the second highest run-getter for Khulna. But apart from Rana (who scored two hundreds), Imrul Kayes struck the only other ton.
Another big miss was Tushar Imran, away in A team duties during the time, who only turned up for two first-class matches.
But this time, Khulna started their preparation indoors on Monday under former national cricketer Sheikh Salahuddin Ahmed, who is very optimistic to erase last year's bitter memory.
"The national players are yet to join the camp and hopefully the real preparation will start from Friday as Shumon (Habibul Bashar) and Syed Rasel are expected to join the team then," informed Salahuddin, who played six one-day internationals and was regarded as a classy off-spinner.
"You all know what happened in the last few seasons. It is unfortunate the way Khulna played last season. My main objective is to bring the togetherness among the players, which is very important. I also think that the financial package will play a big role this season and now, all we need are good pitches" he said.
Salahuddin however was a little bit concerned about injures to Mashrafe, Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.
"These three has small injures and are unlikely to join the camp before Eid but I am hopeful that they are able to play the first round," he informed.
Besides the national colours, Khulna has a number of young prospects like openers Imrul Kayes and Nazmus Sadat, wicketkeeper Sahagir Hossain and pacemen Dollar Mahmud and Ziaur Rahman. Khulna will also bank on the portly Nahidul Haque, who struck a hundred in the one-day format.
"Actually we have a balanced side because we have a strong batting line-up along with variety in our bowling attack," said the 38-year-old coach.
