Khulna Tigers head coach Talha Zubaer on Saturday credited his local players for qualification into the playoffs of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League T20. 

"I have a great local collection. I have been saying it since the draft," Talha told reporters after Khulna's six-wicket win over Dhaka Capitals in their final league phase match in Mirpur on Saturday.

"It was something we were looking to do before the draft [getting a good selection of local players]. Teams that have local players doing well will be ahead of the others.

"We lost some momentum midway into the tournament. We lost a couple of close matches. We made some mistakes there. But our locals played better than our foreign players." 

Khulna, who began the tournament on an impressive note by winning their opening two games, lost their way after that with four consecutive defeats but turned it around with four wins from their last six matches – a run of results that gave them the final spot in the top four, meaning they will play the Eliminator at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Khulna's qualification chances looked bleak at the end of their 10th match as by then, they had just four wins in the bag and needed to win two both their last two encounters against tournament favourites Rangpur Riders and a struggling Dhaka to be in contention for a playoff spot. They raised their game and thrashed Rangpur by 45 runs and gave Dhaka no chance.

Khulna opener Mohammad Naim has been the leading performer for the side as he amassed 444 runs – the tournament's second-highest so far, featuring a ton against Rangpur in a do-or-die contest.

Meanwhile, skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz produced an expert all-round display throughout the league stage, scoring 353 runs and taking 10 wickets.
Apart from them, pacer Hasan Mahmud, who has taken 10 wickets so far, came up with impressive performances, especially at the death. His pace partner Abu Hider has also delivered the goods, picking up 17 wickets at the end of the league phase. 

"Everyone is performing. Today, Miraz played a captain's knock. It's difficult to score runs in pressure matches but he finished the game. Naim is also scoring runs," Talha said.

The former national fast bowler also heaped praises on Hasan's abilities.

 "It's brilliant [what Hasan can do with the ball]. I've always been a big fan of his action. He has the barest of faults in his actions. Because of that, he can do a lot of things…I was a bit surprised not to see him in the Bangladesh squad [for the Champions Trophy]."