Captains' eyes set on the trophy

The tournament is not a regular one. The matches won't be recognised as List A matches either. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hosting a three-team one day tournament called the 'President's Cup' through which competitive cricket is going to return in the country after almost eight months. The matches are nothing but practice games but there is no shortage of excitement.

The champion team of the tournament will be awarded a prize money of BDT 15 lakhs while the team coming second will get BDT 7.5 lakhs. Apart from that, the best batsman, bowler and fielder of the tournament will be rewarded handsomely. In total, the BCB is going to spend about BDT 36.75 lakhs in the tournament. The three captains- Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Nazmul Hossain Shanto have their eyes on the championship.

Mahmudullah Riyad, who is captaining one of the teams in the tournament, said, "It's a great feeling. We have trained all these days. But now competitive cricket is going to restart. At the end of the day, that's what we do and that's what we love. So, it's great to be back."

Mahmudullah mentioned that his team will compete to win the tournament. "Obviously I expect the team to be the champion. Most importantly, the most experienced cricketers as well as the most promising youngsters are there in the team. It's a great opportunity to compete among ourselves and prove our mettle," said Mahmudullah.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto, captaining the Nazmul XI, is also expecting an excellent tournament. The youngster remarked, "We have never been away from cricket for so many days before. I am really thrilled to get back to cricket through such a tournament. I think it will be a competitive series. All the teams are great. We will obviously play for the championship. If we can play our natural game, I think we can do well."

Tamim Iqbal, the ODI captain of Bangladesh believes that the team led by him will be the champions. "Since we are one of the teams participating in the tournament, we have our eyes on the trophy. But the team that plays well on the field will be the champions. The cricket will be competitive. About 50-60 cricketers will participate in the tournament. I reckon we can achieve a lot individually in this tournament," said Tamim.