BPL felt like IPL in the past, not anymore: Malan
Right as he stepped inside the academy ground of the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dawin Malan exchanged a smile with a staff. That staff also greeted him like an old acquaintance.
England batsman Malan has been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) since 2016. After playing for Barishal Bulls, Comilla Warriors and Khulna Titans, he is playing for Comilla Victorians in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
Prior to BPL, Malan also took part in Bangladesh’s 50-over domestic tournament Dhaka Premier League (DPL). In the 2013-14 edition of the DPL, he played for Prime Doleshwar. So naturally, Malan has a fair bit of knowledge on Bangladesh cricket.
It won’t be a stretch to say that Malan, who is currently sixth in the T20I batting rankings, is the biggest star of this edition of the BPL. He has played for England in all three formats and is one of the main batters for England in white-ball cricket.
But when Malan first came to play the BPL in 2016, he was yet to become an international cricketer for England and was mainly known as a batsman from English county club Middlesex.
BPL has played a part in Malan’s success in international cricket in the past five years. After Comilla’s training session at the academy ground on Sunday, Malan spoke about BPL’s impact in his international career.
“I always enjoy playing in the BPL. This is one of the first tournaments of my franchise career. I’ve learnt a lot playing here. I’ve also played at the Dhaka Premier League. Both tournaments have helped me improve my game. That’s why I try not to miss a chance to come and play in Bangladesh,” Malan said.
Malan also spoke about the difference between the pitch conditions at Mirpur and Chattogram, “Cricket in every country is different. Different challenges, different conditions, pitches, playing style. When you play at Chattogram, you get to bat at one of the best batting wickets. At Mirpur, you never know what you are going to get. You have to learn to adapt… You will learn many skills from this tournament which you won’t learn elsewhere.”
Malan claimed that playing at the BPL has helped him improve his batting against spin bowling. He has learnt how to attack and also play cautiously against spin.
But this English batsman didn’t try to hide the fact that as a tournament, BPL has lost much of its gloss, “I’ve played alongside players like Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard when I started in BPL. It felt like an IPL team. The standard was very high. Bringing the world’s best players back, this is the challenge for BCB and the franchise owners right now.”
To do so, Malan suggests improving the standard of pitches, “The standard of matches mainly depends on the wicket. In Chattogram, you will get one of the best wickets in the world. Here (In Dhaka), it’s different. I feel if the wickets are consistently good, the matches will get better. That’s how you could attract the best cricketers. I feel this is the main thing in T20 cricket, playing in good wickets.”