KUALA LUMPUR: Four Malaysian players are making waves in the Bangladesh Hockey League with Mohammedan SC.
The Bangladeshi club are currently at the top of the standings, thanks to Malaysia's Saari brothers, Faizal and Fitri, who are part of national coach Sarjit Singh's training squad, along with Faiz Helmi Jali and Zulpidaus Mizun.
Mohammedan remain unbeaten in the league with 10 wins and two draws. The competition is on a short break for Hari Raya with the remaining three rounds of matches.
Striker Faizal leads the club's scoring chart with 13 goals, while midfielder Fitri, who joined Mohammedan on March 27, has scored five times in seven matches.
"In the Bangladesh league, each team can sign four foreign players, and Mohammedan have chosen only Malaysian players," said Fitri.
"I believe the club are pleased with our performances as they are unbeaten.
"We Malaysian players will benefit greatly from this league, which has also attracted many players from India and Pakistan, offering us quality matches."
Fitri and the other Malaysians have returned to KL to celebrate Hari Raya.
"I will be celebrating Hari Raya with my family in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan," said Fitri.
They will return to Dhaka after Hari Raya for three more matches before rejoining the Speedy Tigers squad to prepare for the Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup in Ipoh from May 4-11.
Fitri, who made his international debut at the Asian Champions Trophy in 2011, said the Speedy Tigers' main mission is the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.
"We have two years to prepare for the mission of winning a gold medal in Nagoya. Usually, the national squad would be on a playing tour, but this time we have the SAS Cup, which will provide quality matches.
"I hope the players selected for the SAS Cup will blend well to produce a strong performance in Ipoh," Fitri added.
Sarjit will trim his 30-member squad to 18 players after the friendly match against New Zealand on May 1 in Ipoh for the SAS Cup.
Besides Malaysia and New Zealand, the other teams in the SAS Cup are Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, and Canada.
The Speedy Tigers are the defending champion, having won the title for the first time in 2002. The SAS Cup was not held in 2023.