COV vs RAN Dream11 Prediction: All you need to know about Match 2 of BPL 2023 between Comilla Victorians and Rangpur Riders.
Comilla Victorians will take on the Rangpur Riders in the second match of the 9th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. Victorians are the defending champions who are once again starting the tournament as one of the title contenders. They have signed the likes of Chadwick Walton, Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi who are expected to start the tournament from day 1. The Victorians will play Rangpur Riders for the first time in three years. They managed to win the last match they played against the Riders and will be hoping to repeat the same to start the 2023 campaign on a high.
Meanwhile, Rangpur Riders are making a comeback after missing the last two seasons due to some outfield issues. Rangpur Riders finished top of the table in the last season they played but failed to make it to the final later. However, it is completely a new team and a lot has changed in the side since their last appearance in the tournament. Nurul Hasan is their new captain under whom they would expect to repeat their last title winning campaign in 2017. They also have the likes of Sikandar Raza, Shoaib Malik, Benny Howell who are available from the first match.
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League: Bangladesh Premier League 2023
Match: Comilla Victorians vs Rangpur Riders, Match 2
Date: 6th January 2023
Time: 6:45 PM IST
The pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur has been a balanced one for both batters and seamers. It has helped the seamers early on in the recent past and spinners have taken over in the middle overs. Moreover, top order batters have enjoyed batting here in comparison to batters playing down the order. The average first innings score should be around 150 and the team winning the toss will be bowling first.
The weather forecast in Mirpur looks brilliant throughout the day. This will be an evening match and there are no chances of rain during the match time.
Dawid Malan, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Aamer Jamal are available for Comilla Riders in this match.
Shoaib Malik, Sikandar Raza, Aaron Jones, Azmatullah Omarzai and Benny Howell are available for Rangpur Riders in this match.
Comilla Victorians: Liton Das (wk), Imrul Kayes (c), Dawid Malan, Mosaddek Hossain, Jaker Ali, Mohammad Nabi, Aamer Jamal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tanvir Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman.
Rangpur Riders: Mohammad Naim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Rony Talukdar, Shoaib Malik, Sikandar Raza, Nurul Hasan (c)(wk), Benny Howell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Ripon Mondol.
Comilla Victorians are favorites to win this match. They are the defending champions and will start the tournament as one of the title contenders as well. They have a good mixture of local and overseas players in their squad. Moreover, their bowling lineup possesses a lot more threat and might end up being the difference between the two sides.
Liton Das: Liton Das is arguably the best all-format batters in Bangladesh currently. He was the highest run scorer for Bangladesh in the two match T20I series played at this venue last year against Afghanistan. The conditions are known to be easier for the top order batters which might help the Victorians’ opener to have a great start upfront. Overall, Das has scored over 1700 T20 runs at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, including 13 half centuries. He is definitely one of the best captaincy choices to go with in this match.
Sikandar Raza: Sikandar Raza had an amazing 2022 in the shorter format for Zimbabwe as he scored over 700 runs and took 25 wickets with the ball in T20Is last year. He will be starting as one of the best captaincy choices you can have for this match due to his all-round abilities. In addition, his bowling and batting style might be very much suitable for the conditions and help him outperform everyone like he has been doing in the recent past.
Fazalhaq Farooqi: Fazalhaq Farooqi was highest wicket taker in the two match T20I series played at this venue between Bangladesh and Afghanistan last year. He was clearly the best bowler in that series with 5 wickets in two games. His ability to take wickets in both powerplay and death overs makes him one of the best captaincy choices you can have. In addition, this will be an evening game and there is a high possibility of early movements with the new ball under the lights which will only make the Afghan seamer more dangerous to face.
Azmatullah Omarzai: Azmatullah Omarzai can be your top differential pick for this match. He is expected to play as he has reached Bangladesh two days prior to the tournament. The Afghan all-rounder is coming off from a brilliant tournament in Nepal T20 where he took 8 wickets. Moreover, he was the joint highest wicket-taker alongside Farooqi in his last visit to this venue for a two match T20I series against Bangladesh. Omarzai also took 5 wickets in two games and was one of the players of the series.
Benny Howell: Benny is another player which can be a top differential pick for this match. Not many are aware of his all-round abilities especially in this part of the world. Yes, Howell had a terrific Bangladesh Premier League with the bat last year where he scored 207 at a strike rate of 154.5 and considering the way batting order collapses in these conditions, Howell’s batting might come into the play down the order.
Aamer Jamal: The Pakistani all-rounder had an excellent domestic season in Pakistan last year. He was striking at 194.11 in Pakistan National T20 which earned him a place in Pakistan’s T20I series against England. In addition he took 9 wickets in that tournament and later went onto bowl a match winning last over in one of the games against England. He will be an excellent differential pick for this match.
Mohammad Naim: Mohammad Naim’s record at the Shere Bangla Stadium is not convincing. He was averaging 7.6 last season in the matches he played at this venue. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid picking the Riders’ opener in your fantasy XIs for this match.
