‘Will be a big achievement to score a BPL ton’

There have been three BPL tons this season, all scored by foreigners as despite some good knocks from the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Hossain and Liton Das, none of the local batters could reach the magical mark. Yesterday, the Chattogram leg's second fixture saw Rangpur Riders duo Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw both hit impressive tons and Tamim Iqbal feels it is not impossible for a Bangladesh star to achieve the feat.

The BPL is in its sixth edition and only three Bangladesh batsman have scored a ton -- Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful and Sabbir Rahman. Chris Gayle alone has five tons in BPL and Tamim, who struck a 73 against Khulna Titans said that to get to the next level, he would have to make his innings longer.

"The local players also had their chance. The way Yasir Ali [ 78 angainst Rangpur] batted yesterday, he had a chance too. When I was batting against Khulna, I had the chance too. I said in the post-match presentation ceremony that day that if one wants to get to the next level, they will have to make these innings longer," he said.

For Tamim, scoring T20 tons is a difficult task and that is what makes them special but batting in the top-order like he or Liton or Sabbir does, means they have more opportunity.

"T20 tons are rare. Batting in the top-order gives one more chances and for a Bangladesh player to attain the feat would be a big achievement," he said.

If Tamim can get into his run-hungry groove, one that has made him such an impressive and dependable batsman in the ODI format in the last few years for the Tigers, then he is a definite candidate for the next Bangladesh T20 ton maker in BPL.