Sports Desk:

Rangpur Riders, the Global Super League’s (GSL) inaugural edition’s champions, dream big as they vow to establish them as a T20 franchise.

Riders can surely claim they seized the opportunity with both hands after current Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Fortune Barisal opted not to take part in the competition when they were offered after being the champions of the country’s lone T20 franchise-based tournament.

It was a last-minute decision for Riders and they left no stone unturned to form their squad with the available resources along with some players from other franchises of BPL.

And the rest is history.

However, things were not as smooth as it looks out to be and following their successive defeats at the start of GSL when they were humbled by Hampshire and Victoria respectively. They faced a lot of criticism from different quarters that suggested they were not made to be fighting in the league that featured four other teams from Australia, England, Pakistan and hosts West Indies.

The five-team Global Super League featured top franchises from around the world, including the Caribbean Premier League’s Guyana Amazon Warriors, Pakistan Super League’s Lahore Qalandars, England’s Hampshire, and New Zealand’s Victoria along with Riders, the 2017 BPL champions.

“To be very honest, we had to wait seven long years, from 2017 when we first became the champions( of BPL),” Ishtiaque Sadeque, chief executive officer (CEO) of Rangpur Riders, told Daily Sun on Sunday.

“Now it’s 2024, we had to wait a long long time. But when we started our global franchise in US Master’s T10 in 2022, we were the only Bangladeshi team who have two global franchise teams,” he said before adding that he is happy that his franchise proved everyone wrong after fingers were pointed at them at the beginning of the tournament.

“Many people said so many bad things and trolled regarding our performance in GSL, but we proved that a Bangladeshi franchise can really make it big when we get going,” he said.

Ishtiaque said that they are reaping the benefit of having a professional set-up and their own ground for training facilities.

BPL will see its 11th edition starting from 30 December but apart from Riders, no other franchises managed to have their own training facilities despite making a big statement upon their arrival in the cash-rich tournament.

“I believe no one else in Bangladesh have such a professional management team like us and it works because we are not working together just for BPL but for the whole year and it helps to set our goals,” he said.

“We are the only team having its own ground (for training purpose) which is known as the Home of the Riders in Bashundhara Sports City and it speaks a lot about our vision if not anything else,” he added.

Ishtiaque added that they are in talks with organizers to take part in such competition.

“We talked with a few organisers in Guyana, we may get invitations from so many tournaments worldwide and if such an offer comes, we may participate on our own or joint venture,” he said.

“Rangpur Riders will definitely make it bigger,” he concluded with a voice beaming with confidence.

Riders not only wrote history but along the way earned the belief that they can compete against the very best in global T20 franchise tournaments with an eye to establish them as a force to reckon with and if morning shows the day it’s surely bright for the GSL champions.