According to Tamim, the journey to the CPL, which is set for August 18 in Trinidad and Tobago, is long and would keep him away from his family, making it difficult to respond to emergencies.
Due to the COVID-19 there is travel restriction and route to West Indies is very long. Say I make it to the islands but there is an emergency in my family, I will not be able to return easy. I do not want to take that chance,” said Tamim.
There is also the issue of figuring out when Bangladesh’s domestic cricket will restart. The last game was played in March and it is still unknown when a restart is likely but Tamim, in particular, wants to be available when it does.
“The tournament [Dhaka Premier League] is suspended but as you know, we all are waiting for it to resume which can happen any time,” said Tamim.
Mahmudullah and Tamim have played in the CPL before, the former for the Jamaica Tallawahs and the Bangladesh captain for the St Lucia Zouks.
The Victorians, home of West Indians Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Johnson Charles, will be looking for their third BPL title in a row and fifth overall while Barishal, home of Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy and Yannic Cariah, will be seeking their first BPL crown.
Comilla finished second on the final points table in the league phase and got to the final on the back of a six-wicket win over the Rangpur Riders in Qualifier 1 on Monday.
Barishal, who finished third on the points table, got a seven-wicket win over the Chattogram Challengers in the Eliminator on Monday before upsetting the Riders with a six-wicket win in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday.
The final is expected to be an exciting affair as both teams have registered wins over each other this season.
They first met on January 23 with the Victorians winning by four wickets before, a month later, Barishal registered a six-wicket win.
Individually, the two finalists boast the top two run scorers in this season’s edition of the BPL.
Fortune Barishal will be looking for a big contribution from opener Tamim Iqbal who currently leads the run-scoring chart with 453 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 125.48 including three fifties.
Second on that list in Comilla’s Towhid Hridoy with 447 runs from 13 innings at a strike rate of 149.49 including a hundred and a pair of fifties.
Comilla’s Litton Das (375 runs from 13 innings) and Barishal’s Mushfiqur Rahim (367 runs from 14 innings) are also among the top five run getters this season and will be looking to score big in Friday’s final.
As for the bowling side, medium pacer Mohammad Saifuddin has taken 14 wickets at an average of 14.14 for Barishal while left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam has picked up 13 wickets in 12 matches for the Victorians.
Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and West Indian left-arm quick Obed McCoy have also been in good form for Barishal with 11 wickets each.
The Victorians, who entered Friday’s game seeking their third BPL title in a row and fifth overall, made 154-6 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by Barishal.
Mahidul Islam Ankon was the top scorer for Comilla with a measured 35-ball 38 while Andre Russell provided some lower order excitement with 27 off 14 balls including four sixes.
James Fuller was expensive in his four overs, going for 43 while picking up a pair of wickets.
Mayers and Obed McCoy were both economical on the day with figures of 1-26 and 1-24 from four overs, respectively.
Barishal then needed only 19 overs to reach 157-4 and secure their maiden hold on the title.
Mayers completed a fine all-round display with a top score of 46 off 30 balls including five fours and two sixes.
Captain Tamim Iqbal, who was named the player of the tournament, made 39 off 26 balls including three fours and as many sixes at the top of the order.
His opening partner, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, also batted well for his 26-ball 29.
Mustafizur Rahman and Moeen Ali took a pair of wickets, each, for the Victorians.
The hosts won the toss and decided to bowl first, a decision which proved to be correct as the tourists were, at one point, struggling mightily at 45-6 after 15 overs of play with three top-order batsmen being removed without scoring.
They eventually recorded six ducks in total as a fighting 51 from captain Shakib Al Hasan and 29 from opener Tamim Iqbal helped the Bangladeshis stumble to 103 all out after just 32.5 overs.
Jayden Seales (3-33 from 10 overs), Alzarri Joseph (3-33 from 8.5 overs), Kemar Roach (2-21 from eight overs) and Kyle Mayers (2-10 from five overs) were the wicket-takers for the hosts.
In their reply, the Windies ended the day 95-2 off 48 overs, trailing Bangladesh by just eight runs. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite (42) and Nkrumah Bonner (12) are the batsmen at the crease while John Campbell (24) and Raymon Reifer (11) are the batsmen dismissed so far.
Pacers Mustafizur Rahman and Ebadot Hossain took the wickets.
