If de Villiers gets set in Chittagong, then good luck to the bowlers- Bopara
Photo - BCB
|| CF Correspondent ||
Defending champions Rangpur Riders Ravi Bopara said on Saturday that they are lucky to have AB de Villers after the first round matches as he will be able to play in good wickets in Sylhet and Chittagong.
The unpredictable nature of the wicket turned out to be the talking point after the opening game as the match turned out to be low-score affair at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Riders were bundled out for 98 runs while Vikings reached 101-7 in 19.1 overs in the tournament opener and the score clearly suggest that the wicket were not prepared that would have big scores on the board.
‘’AB de Villiers arrives after the first six games and we know that the next round is played in good wickets in Sylhet and Chittagong,’’ said Bopara.
‘’It is a good news for us, because he is playing on the best wickets. Only God knows what will happen here [Mirpur]. If de Villiers gets set in Chittagong, then good luck to the bowlers,’’ he added.
It came as a surprise due to the fact that the wicket was hosting the first match of the tournament and that too after a long gap and it was not a fact that the wicket deteriorated after hosting several matches.
The wicket came into discussion during the last edition of BPL as well when Tamim Iqbal was fined for showing his disappointment openly after a game at SBNS.
Bopara looked pretty prepared to accept this kind of a wicket due to the fact he had the opportunity of playing in Bangladesh in several domestic tournaments but not without showing his disappointment.
‘’I think we could have scored more runs on that wicket. I think 130 is a challenging score. It was a difficult wicket to play your shots,’’ Bopara told reporters at the press conference after the opening game.
“Especially in Mirpur, the wicket is unpredictable. We know that scores will be higher in Ctg and Sylhet. You can score 170 to 200. But if you can get 150 here, it is always difficult for the opposition,’’ he said.
‘’Wickets in Bangladesh are very different to the rest of the world. Sometimes you need a lot of time to get prepared for the competition. If you come unprepared, it is a very difficult place to play especially as a batsman. Wickets in the nets are not the same as the middle. It is always difficult to get the idea,’’ he added.
