BPL round-up: Hridoy, Shoriful dazzle; Eisakhil leaves fans with warm, fuzzy feeling

Towhid Hridoy's rise to the top of the BPL batting charts this season is the official end to his prolonged bad patch. At the end of the league phase, Hridoy has 378 runs at 139.48 strike-rate. Hridoy started the last phase with an unbeaten 97 against Rajshahi Warriors, followed by 62 against Dhaka Capitals.

He finished the league phase with a century against Noakhali Express. It came in a moderate chase, with Hridoy hitting 109 off 63 balls with 15 fours and two sixes. It is a timely run of big scores for Rangpur Riders, who have an eliminator against Sylhet Titans. Hridoy's runs are more good news for Bangladesh, who have long waited for his return to form.

Bangladesh's T20 World Cup-bound squad will also get a boost from Shoriful Islam's bag of wickets. Particularly his burst of ten wickets in the back end of the league phase. He had figures of 5 for 9 for Chattogram Royals against Noakhali, with the prized scalp of Hassan Eisakhil to start his five-for. He removed the tail quickly, before following up with five more wickets in the ensuing matches against Rajshahi and Dhaka Capitals. Shoriful ended the league phase as the BPL's highest wicket-taker, with 23 wickets at 9.26 average. Chattogram would be hopeful that his form takes them to the BPL final.

Eisakhil of Afghanistan wasn't getting a match despite training hard through the BPL campaign for Noakhali. They had gone through 19 different players before finally handing a debut to the young Afghan batter - also Mohammad Nabi's son. He batted with his father for part of his 92 against Dhaka Capitals, though he said that he didn't regret getting out in the nineties.

In the last match of the league phase, Eisakhil blazed an unbeaten 107 off 72 balls, with eleven sixes. Hridoy toppled his effort with his match-winning century later, but Eisakhil became a crowd favorite for his batting style, and the feel-good factor he brought to the BPL.

There is going to be early scrutiny about the Dhaka and Noakhali teams, particularly when they clear payments. BPL's recent history about teams that haven't made it to the playoffs hasn't been great. Durbar Rajshahi is the prime example of a team's ownership and management going AWOL after the team's early exit, with players like Mohammad Haris and Ryan Burl left stranded in the team hotel. Dhaka is one of the two older franchises this season who couldn't make it despite a strong team on paper. Noakhali has had its troubles, particularly when coach Khaled Mahmud left training due to lack of practice facilities. They were also in the radar of the BCB's integrity unit although they claimed that they were not treated well by those officials.