Undrafted yet unbroken, Kapali repays faith

When 21 was required off the last eight balls, Alok Kapali hit four boundaries and calmly took the single that won Comilla Victorians a major domestic trophy. His teammates kept him in the centre of their wild celebrations. The unbeaten 39 won him the Man-of-the-Final award too. It is hard not to say that the evening of December 15 was his redemption in Bangladesh cricket after more than seven years.

Kapali, 31, was one of 13 players to join the rebel Indian Cricket League in September 2008, a defection that bruised Bangladesh cricket's progress and ego. He was the highest scorer for the Dhaka Warriors team and although all of those players were pardoned and reintegrated back to Bangladesh cricket, he was never the same player. Two years later he was picked for Bangladesh in four ODIs and two T20s, the last of which had been in December 2011.

Among those who had left mainstream Bangladesh cricket for the ICL, Shahriar Nafees had made a decent comeback in international cricket ending in 2013 and since then has been a regular domestic performer. In fact, if it hadn't been for Kapali's heroics, Nafees' unbeaten 44 after Barisal batted first would have been a more talked about innings.

On Tuesday, Kapali tried to steer clear of making any mention of the ICL but said that the last time he felt this good in a cricket field was in 2008 when he had struck 115 against India in the Asia Cup.

"I won't call this a comeback," Kapali said. "The current Bangladesh team is doing well and I think that I used to play for that team in the past. I am trying on my own. Actually the ICL is now in the distant past. It is better we don't talk about it.

"I think the last time I felt this happy was when I made the century against India after we had lost four wickets and now this innings, which we really needed since we had done so well throughout the competition. I think we really needed this win in the final."

It had been a tough campaign for Kapali, who struggled to find time at the crease in the six innings he got the opportunity out of the ten starts for Comilla. In his first opportunity to bat at No. 4, he made an unbeaten 32 against Sylhet Super Stars but his batting style hardly allowed him to slog, and neither could he find the gaps regularly.

There was much surprise to see him come out to bat before Ashar Zaidi and Shuvagata Hom, especially with 80 needed off the last 10 overs. But Kapali let Imrul Kayes and Zaidi attack at the other end while he found singles and his first boundary didn't come until the 16th over after both had departed.

Both Kapali and his next partner Darren Stevens struggled to find boundaries and just when Barisal had a firm grip, after Stevens and Mashrafe Mortaza were dismissed on back-to-back balls to start the 19th, Kapali snuck two boundaries off the last two balls of the over to get Comilla back in the game with 13 needed off the final six balls. He later said that the plan was to stretch the game to the last over and when he had leveled the score, he told Nuwan Kulasekara that he wouldn't slog the final ball.

"The ball was coming on to the bat quite nicely," Kapali said. "I thought that even if we needed 17 runs off the last over, I could do it. I told Kulasekara that I won't play a risky shot. I will take the single because I didn't want it to go to the super over. I wanted to play till the end, which will be great for me and the team."

Ever since his last international match, he had been regularly making runs in domestic cricket but despite his best efforts, which included first-class scores of 175, 211 not out and 228 earlier this year, the chief selector Faruque Ahmed commented that, "Kapali isn't even in our plan B. He is not fit for international cricket. There are so many other batsmen who are ahead of him."

Kapali said that his match-winning innings in the BPL final wasn't a message to anyone but it was more about repaying the faith of Comilla who had taken him on after being omitted in the draft, one of the surprise unpicked players. There was even a bit of tug-of-war with Rangpur Riders for whom Kapali even appeared in one practice session ahead of the tournament, before he latched on with Comilla.

"I am not giving any messages to anyone. I just wanted to do well, whether it is for Bangladesh, the Sylhet Division team or in the BPL. Maybe chances will come up if I do well in these competitions. I am just thinking about making my batting better.

"I did quite well in first-class cricket last year so I thought I might get a chance in the draft pick. When I wasn't picked, later Comilla team took me. I tried to fulfill whatever expectations they had. I had belief that I could give something back to the team if I got a chance to bat higher up the order. I think today was that day," he said.

Once he was Bangladesh's most beloved batsman after Mohammad Ashraful and one might even say Kapali's batting style and occasional legspin had a bit of cult following. His 324 runs in the ICL kept his fans happy but his return to mainstream cricket in Bangladesh was often marred by a sense of mistrust towards the 2008 rebels.

But as Kapali showed in the BPL final, it wasn't just about redeeming his reputation but telling the country that he's still alive, and can still bring it on a big day.