DPL season 2026: Mohammedan edge closer to rare title but rivals still close

Mohammedan Sporting Club lead the DPL standings with three rounds left but Abahani and Prime Bank remain in contention for the 2026 title.

Title race heats up With the Super League format scrapped for this year, Mohammedan Sporting Club (MSC) hold a commanding lead at the top of the DPL table as they approach the final three matchdays. MSC are poised to claim their first league crown in seventeen seasons. Second-placed Abahani Limited, the reigning champions, are locked in a tight battle to defend their title. Abahani’s slow start with two early losses now looms large over their title hopes. However, a six-match winning streak since then has kept them within striking distance of MSC. Prime Bank Cricket Club, tied with Abahani on twelve points, trail them due to a weaker net run rate and remain the only other team mathematically capable of lifting the trophy. ## Rising stars with the bat Prime Bank’s Shahadat Hossain is nearing a milestone half-century of runs in the competition, currently sitting on 491 runs after recording his second century this week. Close behind him is MSC’s Towhid Hridoy, whose consistent performances are keeping his side’s title hopes alive. Hridoy has amassed 427 runs at an impressive average of seventy-one point sixteen, including one hundred and three fifties, as he prepares for Bangladesh’s upcoming ODI series against Australia. Agrani Bank’s Mahfijul Islam has also breached the four-hundred-run mark, with two centuries to his name so far in the tournament. ## Openers dominate once again Prime Bank’s opening duo, Shahadat and Tanzid Hasan, both struck centuries in their side’s dominant fifteen-five-run victory over Brothers Union on Tuesday. This marked the seventh occasion in DPL history where a team’s openers both scored hundreds in the same innings. Notably, Prime Bank’s opening pair have achieved this feat four times, with Shahadat involved in three of those instances. The explosive start provided by these two batters has been a key factor behind Prime Bank’s strong campaign this season. ## Spin twins terrorize batters Prime Bank’s mystery spinner Aliss Al Islam has been the standout bowler so far, with twenty-two wickets to his credit—six clear of his closest competitor, City Club’s Abdul Gaffar Saqlain. Aliss, whose style draws comparisons to Sunil Narine, already has a hat-trick this season and delivered figures of three for fifteen against Brothers Union in his latest outing. Pace bowler Saqlain turned in a match-winning performance with six wickets for thirty-seven against Rupganj Tigers last month. Meanwhile, Md Rubel, another mystery spinner in his debut DPL season, has taken fifteen wickets at an average of fifteen point twenty-six for Gazi Group Cricketers. His best figures so far are six for twenty-three against Dhaka Leopards on Tuesday. ## Record chase keeps Agrani alive Agrani Bank’s thrilling one-run victory over City on Tuesday has dramatically boosted their hopes of surviving relegation this season. City’s mammoth total of three hundred twenty-six was anchored by Abdullah Al Mamun’s brilliant one hundred fifty-one. In response, Mahfijul Islam blazed his way to one hundred forty-seven off one hundred forty-one balls, striking five sixes and twelve fours, as he nearly guided Agrani to an improbable win. His opening partnership with Shadman Islam yielded one hundred forty-eight runs before Mahfijul fell just eighteen runs short. Agrani eventually crossed the line with two deliveries remaining, securing a memorable chase that could define their future in the league. ## Bottom clubs face demotion threat Brothers Union, Rupganj Tigers, and Gulshan Cricket Club are all anchored at the bottom with just two points each, leaving at least two of these sides facing the real possibility of relegation at the end of the season. Among the strugglers, only Tigers showed any signs of fight during the latest round of matches on Tuesday. Brothers Union and GCC, both anchored to the bottom due to inferior net run rates, suffered heavy defeats in their most recent games. The coming weeks will be critical for these three sides as they fight to secure their DPL futures. ## Rising talents eye national recognition Mystery spinners Aliss Al Islam and Md Rubel, along with hard-hitting opener Habibur Rahman, are strong candidates for the High Performance squad that will face Zimbabwe A next week. Selection chiefs will be encouraged by Habibur’s assault on Nahid Rana, whom he struck for twenty-six runs in a single over at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Taskin Ahmed also featured in the same match, providing further evidence of emerging talent in the league. These performances could pave the way for national call-ups as Bangladesh look to build depth ahead of future international commitments.