Comilla Victorians
কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ান্স | |
League: | Bangladesh Premier League |
---|---|
Captain: | Mashrafe Mortaza |
Coach: | Mizanur Rahman Babul |
Chairman: | Nafisa Kamal |
City: | Comilla, Bangladesh |
Colours: | |
Owner: | Nafisa Kamal (Royal Sporting Limited) |
Founded: | 2015 |
Manager: | Khaled Mashud |
BPL wins: | 1 |
Official website: | http://comillavictorians.com.bd/ |
Comilla Victorians are a Bangladeshi professional men's cricket team, competing in Bangladesh Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket league. The team is based in Comilla, Chittagong. The team plays its games at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. The team is currently owned by Nafisa Kamal, while A H M Mustafa Kamal serves as an honorary member of the board. The team is captained by Bangladesh national cricket team captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Franchise history
Foundation
The Comilla Victorians were created when the decision was made to expand the number of teams and move away state representative teams to city-based teams for the third season of the competition. With the revamp of Bangladesh Premier League, a scope was created for interested bidders to bid for Comilla-based franchise, being the second largest city in Chittagong Division.[1] The legal franchise rights were sold to Nafisa Kamal (Legends Sporting Limited), a former owner of defunct franchise Sylhet Royals. The rights were bought at US$27.50 million for five years. During October 2015, Comilla Victorians was officially established, thus becoming the second team to play from Chittagong Division, after Chittagong Vikings.[2]
2015–16
Draft pick
The Comilla Victorians were the newest addition to the Bangladesh Premier League. The draft pick was held on 22 October 2015, where the team picked nine overseas players and thirteen national players. Ironically, before the tournament, analysts predicted the Victorians as the weakest team in the tournament due to lack of variation in the team, despite inclusion of experienced players like Mashrafe Mortaza, Shoaib Malik and big hitters like Andre Russell, and Marlon Samuels.
Regular season
The Comilla Victorians opened its campaign against Dhaka Dynamites. The game was played on 22 November The Victorians were restricted to 110/8, which ended in a defeat to Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The Victorians went to having a three-game winning streak after that, convincingly defeating Chittagong Vikings, Rangpur Riders and Barisal Bulls. Victorians' strong bowling attack was admired after its brilliant performance against Barisal Bulls during its third game in regular season, where Bulls were bowled out for 89 runs, one of the lowest totals in Bangladesh Premier League. The team went on to maintaining its dreaded performance with bowling, when the team bowled out Rangpur Riders for 82 runs, resulting in a win by huge margin of 9 wickets. The team finished the regular season with seven wins of ten matches. Imrul Kayes was the second highest run-scorer of the tournament, scoring 312 runs at an average of 28.36 while Abu Hider was the second highest wicket taker with 21 wickets. Ashar Zaidi was awarded the player of the tournament for his outstanding all rounding performance.
Final
In-form after coming out as the lead in regular reason, the Victorians went on to win against the Barisal Bulls in Dhaka. The final was held at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on 15 December 2015, The Victorians won the toss and choose to field. A good spell of bowling from Ashar Zaidi and economical spell from Darren Stevens restricted the Bulls to (156/4) after 20 overs. The Victorians came on the top during the second innings after a blazing innings of 53(37) from Imrul Kayes. The final was taken till the last ball, with 11 runs needed in the last over. Alok Kapali pulled off a tense win after hitting a boundary in the last ball.[3]
Records
Season record | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matches | Wins | Losses | No result | Run rate | Summary |
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1st (of 6) |
Batting records | |||||
Player | Innings | Runs | Average | SR | Highest Score |
Imrul Kayes | 12 | 312 | 28.36 | 114.70 | 67 |
Ashar Zaidi | 8 | 215 | 53.75 | 138.70 | 53* |
Ahmed Shehzad | 7 | 204 | 34.00 | 110.86 | 76* |
Bowling records | |||||
Player | Innings | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
Abu Hider | 12 | 46 | 316 | 21 | 6.91 |
Ashar Zaidi | 11 | 37 | 177 | 17 | 4.78 |
Nuwan Kulasekara | 8 | 27 | 155 | 10 | 5.74 |
2016–17
Draft pick
Comilla Victorians entered the draft in 30 September 2016, where the team picked nine domestic and six overseas players. Captain of Bangladesh national cricket team captain Mashrafe Mortaza was retained to lead the team in second season. Mohammad Salahuddin was not retained as the coach, despite having a successful season. Mizanur Rahman Babul will be seen as the Head Coach for this season of Comilla Victorians.[4]
Team identity
Name and logo
After the foundation of the team in October 2015, Comilla Legends was proposed as the franchise name. However, the name Victorians was later finalised as the official name by Nafisa Kamal. The official logo was revealed in a launching ceremony where team's official jersey was launched by brand ambasasdor Ananta Jalil, Afiea Nusrat Barsha and team captain Mashrafe Mortaza.
Jersey colours
The kit colours of the team are red, gold and black. The logo of the team is displayed on the left chest while the silver sponsor Exim Bank logo is displayed on the right. Huawei is the platinum sponsor of the team. Sailor by Epyllion manufactures the kit for the team.
Sponsorship
Huawei, one of the well known mobile and network equipment manufacturer in Telco Industry, is the platinum sponsor of the franchise. The team attracted the most number of sponsors during the third season of the tournament with nine associate/silver sponsors which includes big names such as Marcel, Exim Bank, 100Plus, AVR, FBL, Minister HI-Tech Industries, MAX Group, Paragon and Rupayan Group.
Premier Bank is the official banking partner of the franchise, Gaan Bangla is the media partner, Magnito Digital is the print media partner and Westin Hotels & Resorts is the hospitality partner while bdcricteam becomes the online media partner starting from 2016 Bangladesh Premier League.[5][6]
Seasons
Year | Bangladesh Premier League |
---|---|
2016 | Champions |
Current squad
- As of 1 November 2016 [7]
Comilla Victorians Roster for BPL 2016 | ||||||
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Batsmen
All Rounders |
Bowlers
|
Support Staff
| ||||
Records
Team records
Result summary v. opponent
Opposition | Pld | W | L | T | T+W | T+L | NR | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barisal Bulls | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
Chittagong Vikings | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
Dhaka Dynamites | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Rangpur Riders | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
Sylhet Super Stars | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Sponsors and endorsement
Kit | Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Sleeve sponsor | Head Gear sponsor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Sailor | S. Alam Group of Industries | Marcel, FBL | Sailor | |
2016 | Sailor | Huawei | Walton Group, FBL, Minister Electronics, S.Alam Group of Industries, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, Lisky, AVR Bangladesh M/S. Zaman Traders | Sailor | |
References
- ↑ "'Comilla Legends' turned 'Comilla Victorians'". bdcricteam.com. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
- ↑ "Salahuddin to coach new BPL side Comilla Victorians". apolene.com. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
- ↑ "Bangladesh Premier League, Final: Comilla Victorians v Barisal Bulls at Dhaka, Dec 15, 2015". CricInfo. espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ↑ অনুশীলনে মাশরাফির কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ান্স. jagonews24.com (in Bangla). Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ↑ বিপিএলে কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ান্সের মিডিয়া পার্টনার বিডিক্রিকটিম - bdcricteam.com. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
- ↑ বিপিএলে কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ানের সঙ্গী বিডিক্রিকটিম. jagonews24.com (in Bangla). Retrieved 2016-09-21.
- ↑ Isam M (2016)Eighty-five players picked in BPL 2016-17 draft, CricInfo, 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-25.