The 1st match of Bangladesh Premier League 2023 is scheduled to play between Chattogram Challengers and Sylhet Strikers on Friday, 6th January 2023 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.

Chattogram Challengers had added some extra power in their batting and bowling units. They removed the players who failed to perform well and picked some best players for this tournament. Afif Hossain is the new leader of the Challengers for this season of BPL. Unmukt Chand and Mehedi Maruf are the leading batsmen of this team. Chattogram Challengers had picked some best batting all-rounders from all cricketing nations. Max O Dowd, Ashan Priyanjan, and Shuvagata Hom are batting all-rounders in their squad. Irfan Sukkur is the only wicket-keeper-batsman in the squad of the Challengers.

The bowling unit of Chattogram Challengers is also strong. They had picked Abu Jayed, Vishwa Fernando, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, and Taijul Islam as their leading bowlers. Taijul Islam had played 12 ODI and two T20 matches for Bangladesh. Some best bowling all-rounders of T20 cricket like Curtis Campher, Farhad Reza, and Ziaur Rahman are also part of the squad of Challengers. Curtis Campher had played 16 ODIs and 24 T20 matches for Ireland. He scored 391 runs and also picked 20 wickets in T20 cricket. We think that Chattogram Challengers are the only team that has not picked any player from Pakistan. Chattogram Challengers are not much stronger than the other teams in this tournament.

Sylhet Strikers played the previous edition of BPL as Sylhet Sunrisers. They also made a lot of changes in their management and squad with the name change. Mashrafe Mortaza is an experienced player of the national team of Bangladesh and he will be leading the Strikers in this tournament. Sylhet Strikers had picked some best batsmen for this season of BPL. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taibur Rahman, and Towhid Hridoy are key batsmen of this team. They also have the help of Colin Ackermann, Ryan Burl, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kamindu Mendis in the batting department. Sylhet Strikers also have the services of some best wicket-keeper batsmen like Mohammad Haris, Mushfiqur Rahim, Zakir Hasan, and Akbar Ali.

Sylhet Strikers are very rich in the bowling unit. Mohammad Amir will be leading the bowling unit of the Strikers. He had played a lot of seasons of BPL and also knows the conditions of Bangladesh very well. We are sure that it will not very easy for the batsmen of the other teams to play shots against him freely. Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Rubel Hossain, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib are key bowlers in the squad of the Strikers. Gulbadin Naib and Thisara Perera are two best bowling all-rounders of the T20 format of cricket who are part of the bowling squad of Sylhet Strikers. Gulbadin Naib had played 54 T20 matches for Afghanistan where he picked 20 wickets and scored 610 runs. Thisara Perera is a legendary player from Sri Lanka. He had represented Sri Lanka in 74 T20 matches.

Chattogram Challengers: Avishek Mitra, Usman Khan(WK), Ashan Priyanjan, Mehedi Hasan-Rana, Afif Hossain(C), Irfan Sukkur(WK), Farhad Reza, Ziaur Rahman, Shuvagata Hom, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam

Sylhet Strikers: Tom Moores, Najmul Hossain -Shanto, Kamindu Mendis, Colin Ackermann, Mushfiqur Rahim(WK), Thisara Perera(C), Gulbadin Naib, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rejaur Rahman Raja

According to our match prediction, Chattogram Challengers is the favorite team to win this match. There are many factors that make Chattogram Challengers a favorite team to win this match.

• Sylhet Strikers are overall a strong team than Chattogram Challengers
• The bowling unit of Sylhet Strikers is strong and experienced
• Chattogram Challengers also picked some best players
• Sylhet Strikers have a strong bowling attack
• The batting order of Sylhet Strikers is also experienced

Sylhet Strikers is overall a strong team in this tournament, so the winning chances of today’s match for Sylhet Strikers have been increased. The equation of winning the chances of both teams for today’s match is mentioned as under.

Sylhet Strikers have a 54% chance to win this match
Chattogram Challengers shave 46% chances to win this match

The toss is playing an important role in the result of all matches of BPL as we had seen in the previous matches. According to toss prediction, the team who will win the toss may choose the field first.

The 1st match of BPL season 2023 is going to be held at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. The pitch at the stadium is considered to be decent for batting but it will offer some help to the spinners like every other surface in the country. A score of around 190 should be considered par at the venue. The average first-inning score at this venue is 152 runs and the average second-inning score is 130 runs. This venue has the highest total recorded of 211 runs in 20 overs.

The weather forecast of Dhaka for this match is not good. There are some chances of rain but we are hoping for a full match to watch.

It will be updated shortly

• Date: Friday, 6th January 2023
• Time: 08:30 AM GMT / 02:30 PM LOCAL / 02:00 PM IST

• Stadium: Shere-E- Bangla National Stadium
• Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Opened: 2006
• Capacity: 25,000
• Ends: Ispahani End, Aqua Paints End
• Time Zone: UTC +06:00
• Other Sports: it is home to Football
• Floodlights: Yes

• Total matches: 59
• Matches won batting first: 29
• Matches won bowling first: 30
• Average 1st Inns scores: 144
• Average 2nd Inns scores: 124
• Highest total recorded: 211/4 (20 Ov) by BAN vs WI
• Lowest total recorded: 60/10 (16.5 Ov) by NZ vs BAN
• The highest score chased: 194/4 (16.4 Ov) by SL vs BAN
• The lowest score defended: 127/9 (20 Ov) by BAN vs AUS

Abu Jayed, Afif Hossain, Curtis Campher, Unmukt Chand, Farhad Reza, Vishwa Fernando, Irfan Sukkur, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Mehedi Maruf, Mrittunjay Chowdhury, Max O’Dowd, Ashan Priyanjan, Shuvagata Hom, Taijul Islam, Tawfique Khan, Ziaur Rahman.