I've rivalry with myself just, says Akbar

 
Wicket-keeper batter Akbar Ali believes if he can perform up to the mark, he would make his way to the national team automatically.
Therefore he stressed upon the requirements of taking the challenge of keeping high standard in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) starting on December 30.

Akabr was recruited by BPL's new franchise Durbar Rajshahi which opened the tournament at the very first day by taking on defending champions Fortune Barishal.

"I don't think my competition is with anyone else. In my opinion, I've rivalry with just myself. If I can do well, I will definitely make my way to the national team," said Akbar Ali after the practice session of his side on Friday.

Akbar rose to the prominence by leading the Under-19 team to win the World Cup in 2020, which was the first ICC silverware for the country in any level of cricket.

Since then most of his teammates made their way to the national team and some had already cemented their place.

But Akbar Ali, the captain, whose calm demeanor on the field steered the side to the victory in the low-scoring final against India in that World Cup has been an enigma in country's cricket.

His performance took a downhill spiral after that World Cup and things looked that the national call up is never imminent.
However, recently he shone in domestic cricket as a wicketkeeper-batsman. In the last NCL T20, he scored 208 runs in 9 innings at a strike rate of 149.64. His performance and captaincy was the key in helping Rangpur clinch the NCL T20 trophy.

Many believe after this performance in NCL T20, Akbar national call up is on the card but for that he needs to translate this performance into the BPL.
But after the draft in this year's BPL, many people saw Durbar Rajshahi as weakest amongst the team.

"When you play for a team, you have to be optimistic to do well at the highest level.

We are also optimistic about our team. We also have a good enough team. If we can play according to our potential, we can beat any team on any day," he said.

"T20 is a game which you have to play on the field. How a team look on the paper doesn't matter much in this format."
When asked what he would do if Durbar Rajshahi offer him the captaincy, Akbar said, "I have to think about it. If the management offers me to lead the side, I can definitely think about it."

Meanwhile, off spinner Nayeem Hasan has said he is eagerly waiting to play under the leadership of Tamim Iqbal in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) because it's always a lot of fun to share the dressing with the veteran.

 "I have played with him in the past. It was a lot of fun playing under him. When he was in the national team, it was still (fun). When he is in the team, you always get special support," Nayeem said.

Nayeem, who also hailed from Chattogram like Tamim Iqbal are playing for Fortune Barisal in this year's BPL.
The franchise became champions last year under Tamim's leadership. This time too, Barisal has formed a very strong team to retain the title/