Rangpur Riders will next face off Khulna Titans in their second consecutive encounter of the BPL-6 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur at 5:20pm today.

The Riders, BPL 2017 champions, will get the service of Twenty20 specialist batsman Chris Gayle, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday to play his sixth-season BPL games, in this match but the team has to wait for AB de Villiers, who will join Rangpur’s ranks in the second phase in Sylhet.

When these two dangermen will get down for the Riders, it’ll obviously engender fears in the opposition tents what was resonated in the words of Ravi Bopara.

“Having Gayle and de Villiers in the batting line-up, both world-class batsmen, scares the opposition,” Ravi Bopara said.

“AB de Villiers arrives after the first six games and we know that the next round is played in good wickets in Sylhet and Chittagong. It’s a good news for us, because he is playing on the best wickets,” Bopara told media.

“Only God knows what will happen here [Mirpur]. If de Villiers gets set in Chittagong, then good luck to the bowlers,” he added.

When asked about the next opponent, the experienced English player in BPL said that they were a tidy side last edition.     

“Khulna were a smart team last year. This year they have very good cricketers,” the all-rounder said. “But we back ourselves as defending champions. We didn’t start well last year. We became good towards the back of the tournament. Hopefully Chris Gayle is there tomorrow,” he added.

Khulna Titans, on the other hand, prepared themselves for their first match in this season through their intense practice session. They are optimistic about winning the first tie to launch their BPL campaign with winning note.

“Everything is going on well. Then it’s new season. Everyone has target to be champions. We’ll play for that, Inshaallah,” said Titans captain Mahmudullah Riyad.

“Our team is very much balanced in both sides. I think, each team captain will say that their side is best. But at the end, it’s a matter of watch how we perform and how much effort we are delivering for the team,” Riyad told.

“Hopefully we will all try to provide our best efforts in all our matches in BPL,” he added.

“I think, we have a good verity in our bowling attack. We’ve chinaman, leg-spinner and left-arm spinner in the side along with quick fast bowlers. Lasith Malinga is an experienced bowler.”

“Even, we have some good cricketers in our batting side including Malan and Taylor. We’ve some good local players. It’s a matter of watch how we perform as a team.” 

“We’ve no superstar on pen and papers. But the team is trimmed with useful players, who are effective in three departments,” the all-rounder said, signing off.