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Mohammad IsamESPN
Previous season: Knocked out in the second qualifier, finishing with seven wins in 14 games.
Big picture
By many accounts, Khulna Titans had a fairly limited squad last year and yet they fell only one step short of making the final. In 2017, they have increased their bench strength with the signings of in-form players such as Rilee Rossouw, Kyle Abbott, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Chadwick Walton and the retention of Mahmudullah and Junaid Khan. They also have in their ranks four bright young local talents – Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, Saif Hassan and Afif Hossain – who will look to leave their imprint on this year’s competition.
Key player
Mahmudullah was their backbone in 2016 and remains so in 2017. While his form in Test cricket has been up and down, he remains one of Bangladesh’s leading batsmen in the shorter formats. His bowling helped Khulna clinch last-over thrillers last year, so it goes without saying that he will be their gun player over the next few weeks.
Coach
After completing his illustrious career for Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene is fast becoming a highly sought after coach in the T20 circuit. He led Mumbai Indians to the IPL title last year and will bring a lot of new ideas to the Khulna set up, that also includes former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar and former batsman Nafees Iqbal.
One that got away
Although Khulna have retained many of their key performers from 2016, they will likely miss Kevon Cooper, who took 11 wickets in eight matches and provided X-factor to the bowling attack.
Flying under the radar
Saif Hassan is one of the most talented young batsmen in Bangladesh, and is the current Under-19 captain. He missed playing for Bangladesh A recently due to a nose injury but has made a good start to his first-class and List-A career, and is understood as being groomed for bigger things.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo