Sylhet Strikers Explained

Sylhet Strikers
Alt Name:সিলেট স্ট্রাইকার্স
League:Bangladesh Premier League
Captain:Mohammad Mithun
Coach:Rajin Saleh
City:Sylhet, Bangladesh
Owner:Future Sports Bangladesh
Founded: (as Sylhet Royals)
2015 (as Sylhet Super Stars)
2017 (as Sylhet Sixers)
2019 (as Sylhet Thunder)
2021 (as Sylhet Sunrisers)
2023 (as Sylhet Strikers)
Ground:Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet
Bpl Wins:0 (Runner Up 2023)
T Pattern La:_whiteborder_with_gap
T Pattern B:_sylhet22
T Pattern Ra:_whiteborder_with_gap
T Leftarm:5b0244ff
T Body:5b0244ff
T Rightarm:5b0244ff
T Pants:5b0244ff
T Title:T20 kit

Sylhet Strikers (Bengali: সিলেট স্ট্রাইকার্স, Sylheti:ꠍꠤꠟꠐ ꠍꠤꠇꠍꠣꠞꠡ) is a professional cricket franchise team based in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The team competes in the Bangladesh Premier League. The franchise made its debut at the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League.

The team was owned by Sylhet Sports Limited in the care of Bangladesh's former Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith. His son, Shahed Muhith is the Chairman of the team. The Sixers announced Waqar Younis as head coach and International Cricketer, David Warner as captain for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League. Former Bangladesh National Cricket Team all-rounder Alok Kapali took over as captain after Warner's departure, due to injury.

On 16 November 2019, 24Bazar.biz was named as the sponsor of the team and it was renamed to Sylhet Thunder.[1] The team changed ownership ahead of the 2021–22 Bangladesh Premier League.[2] The team was rebranded as Sylhet Sunrisers after changing owners ahead of 2021–22 Bangladesh Premier League.[3]

In September 2022, Future Sports Bangladesh acquired the ownership and renamed the team to Sylhet Strikers.[4]

History

Sylhet Sixers is a new Franchisee, created in 2017, competing in Bangladesh Premier League, chaired by architect, social activist and IT Specialist Shahed Muhit. The team's management has extensive experience in sports team management. The management intends to use the team to bridge the gap between cricket stars and passionate fans and engage the youth to divert their focus to wholesome sporting activities. Sylhet Sixers is the brainchild of a Bangladesh MP, Abul Maal Abdul Muhit. A management team composed of former cricketers, coaches, lawyers, and business entrepreneurs formed to start the Sylhet Sixers. Mr. Maashed R. Abdullah and Mr. Yasir Obaid both textile entrepreneurs had joined the Sixers as managing director and CEO respectively.

Season overview

2017

See also: 2017–18 Bangladesh Premier League.

The Sylhet Franchise returned to BPL under the Sylhet Sixers banner. The team's icon player was Sabbir Rahman and was captained by all-rounder Nasir Hossain. They lured wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan and orthodox spinner and Taijul Islam as pre-draft signings. Their foreign player signings included Krishmar Santokie, Babar Azam, Liam Plunkett, Andre Fletcher, Upul Tharanga, Ross Whitely and more.

At the draft, pacer Abul Hasan was their first pick. Their first foreign pick was Lankan all-rounder Chaturanga de Silva. Their surprise picks were little-known, inexperienced Pakistani pacer Ghulam Mudassar, averaging more than 40 with the ball and picking up a solitary wicket in the 2 matches.

The team started their campaign with 4 wins in a row on their home turf. Andre Fletcher and Upul Tharanga turned out to be destructive at the top. Skipper Nasir Hossain bowled well so did Liam Plunkett. The Sixers suffered a series of injuries as the tournament went on. In the end, the Sixers finished fifth on the points table.

2019

See also: 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.

The Sixers decided to retain Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain and Pakistani all-rounder Sohail Tanvir. They signed Bangladesh National Cricket Team opener and wicket-keeper Liton Das as their icon player. Outside the draft, they signed Australian batsman David Warner. They also signed English opening batsman Jason Roy, Nepali leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, South African Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell and Pakistani all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz.

At the draft, Sylhet signed the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Afif Hossain and Alok Kapali from the domestic category. Their international signings from the draft included Nicholas Pooran, Mohammad Irfan, Andre Fletcher, and Gulbadin Naib to name a few.

2019–20

See main article: 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. During the player's direct signing period, a Conflict of Interests arose between BCB and all other franchises. Subsequently, in September 2019, BCB made some changes in rules and regulations for this season and eliminated all franchises, BCB took over the charge of the current BPL and decided to run this current tournament by the board itself and named the tournament as Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019 in order to pay homage to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his birth centenary.[5] The team is owned and managed by BCB itself.[6]

2022

See main article: 2021–22 Bangladesh Premier League.

2023

See main article: 2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League.

2024

See main article: 2024 Bangladesh Premier League. The Sylhet Strikers opened its campaign against Chattogram Challengers.The game was played on 19 January which ended in, Sylhet Strikers getting defeated by Chattogram Challengers by 7 wickets to lose their opening match. Sylhet has played 10 matches in BPL 24, won 3 and lost 7 matches.[7]

Overseas Players include Kennar Lewis, Samit Patel, Harry Tector, Benny Howell and Ryan Burl.

Current squad

NameNationalityRole
Najmul Hossain ShantoBatsman
Ryan BurlBatsman
Harry TectorBatsman
Salman HossainBatsman
Mohammad Mithun (C)Wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper/Batsman
Yasir Ali ChowdhuryBatsman
Ariful HaqueAll-Rounder
Ben CuttingAll-Rounder
Dushan HemanthaAll-Rounder
Bowler
Nazmul Islam ApuBowler
Tanzim Hasan SakibBowler
Nayeem HasanBowler
Shafiqul IslamBowler
George ScrimshawBowler
Richard NgaravaBowler
Rejaur Rahman RajaBowler
Benny HowellAll-Rounder
Jawad RowenBowler

Seasons

Bangladesh Premier League

YearLeague standingFinal standing
20126th out of 6League stage
20132nd out of 7Playoffs
20155th out of 6League stage
2016Did not participate
20175th out of 7League stage
2018-196th out of 7League stage
2019–207th out of 7League stage
20226th out of 6League stage
20231st out of 7Runners-up
20246th out of 7League stage

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 7 teams announced for Bangabandhu BPL. Daily Bangladesh. 16 November 2019.
  2. News: BPL 2022 franchises finalised, no team from Rajshahi or Rangpur. 12 December 2021. Bdcrictime.com. 12 December 2021. Dhaka.
  3. News: Taskin, Chandimal sign for Sylhet Sunrisers. 26 December 2021. Bdcrictime.com. 26 December 2021. Dhaka.
  4. News: Mashrafe named Sylhet Strikers icon in BPL. 19 October 2022. The Business Standard. 19 October 2022.
  5. Web site: BCB to conduct T20 tournament instead of BPL after fallout with franchises . Cricbuzz. 11 September 2019.
  6. Web site: Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019 squads . Bangladesh Cricket Board. 17 November 2019.
  7. Web site: Sylhet Strikers Team SYS Match, Live Score, News . 2024-02-17 . ESPNcricinfo . en.