Players raise concerns over pitches in the Bangladesh Premier League

Pitches in BPL are deemed bowler-friendly after a series of low scoring matches

The Bangladesh Premier League is entering into its latter stages and with it the questions regarding quality of the pitches are also gathering pace, reports ESPN Cricinfo.

Comilla Victorians’ captain Mashrafe Mortaza expressed his concerns regarding the pitch saying that teams are much more willing to have a go with the ball first despite the short boundaries and the pitches are two paced and bowler friendly, as a result of which we are witnessing alarmingly low scores in the T20 tournament.

“It is hard to score runs when you try to force it,” Mashrafe said. “These wickets are very unpredictable. Every team is looking to field first. Maybe they pulled in the boundary ropes because we were playing on the wicket on the other corner but it might also be to increase the run-making. But it is still very hard for the batsmen.”

Barisal Bulls fast bowler Rayad Emrit also said that the pitches on offer are not good enough for T20 matches.

“It is not the best of wickets for T20. It is very difficult to start for a batter and to bat first, especially,” he said. “We batted first in both games and you see the results. They are probably trying to compensate for the wicket.

“It is not a wicket where you can go out and play shots. Maybe they are trying to get the fans involved, T20 is about runs. It is always a batter's game and obviously the bowlers have to adjust quickly. If we had got 120-130, it would have been a different game.”

The Barisal Bulls were boosted by the arrival of Chris Gayle but since his arrival, the team has managed totals of 58 and 105 respectively after batting first in both the matches. West Indian opener Evin Lewis, who struck an unbeaten century against Dhaka Dynamites was also concerned with his team’s results.

“We've lost two games back to back,” Emrit said. “It is a bit of a concern now. We have a strong top-order but we are very inconsistent in our batting. Our bowlers have done a terrific job. We know how dangerous the guys at the top are, as long as they get off.”

Since the tournament has moved back to Dhaka from Chittagong, the average first innings score has taken a considerable dip. The average first-innings score in Chittagong was 140 runs, but the last four matches played at Dhaka have seen first inning scores of 58, 135, 105 and 59 which makes the average score 89, 51 runs less than the average score in Chittagong.