Hridoy on dramatic win towards Afghanistan: ‘I used to be assured until the final ball’
Despite enjoying the match-defining knock within the first T20I towards Afghanistan which Bangladesh gained within the final over, Towhid Hridoy was nervous as he watched the dramatic win unfold from the non-striker’s finish. Bangladesh made a meal out of a cakewalk when, with two wanted off 5 balls, Karim Janat took a hat-trick within the last over in Sylhet. Ghosts of the Bengaluru 2016 meltdown have been nonetheless banished when Shoriful Islam unfurled a reduce that acquired them the successful runs.
At the presentation ceremony, Hridoy stated that he was nervous whereas watching Janat’s hat-trick on the different finish. Shortly afterwards within the press convention, he additional stated that he felt every of the dismissed batters might have hit the successful runs within the final over, and when it got here down to 2 off two balls, he instructed Shoriful to run no matter hitting the ball.
“I had confidence in everyone,” Hridoy stated. “Taskin [Ahmed] bhai, Nasum [Ahmed] bhai and Shoriful all bat well. Taskin bhai won us a game like this with two boundaries against England. I believed Shoriful could do the job. We have played Under-19s together. I was confident till the last ball. I told him that, ‘we are running whether you hit it or not. You will win us the game’.
“I felt okay. We wanted simply two runs. We might rating one or two runs if ball hit the bat one way or the other. I all the time attempt to keep calm.
“I tried to tell my batting partners what the bowler could do.”
Hridoy stated that when Shamim Hossain joined him at 64 for 4 and so they wanted 91 off 59 balls, he felt that two huge overs might give them the rhythm. The first of these got here swiftly, after they took 21 off the thirteenth over, bowled by Azmatullah Omarzai, which included 5 wides after Hridoy slammed two fours, and the asking charge of 9.50 got here right down to underneath eight an over.
The match might have nonetheless swung both approach as Bangladesh wanted 35 from 24, however they collected 16 runs off Fazalhaq Farooqi within the seventeenth over to show the sport.
“I told Shamim that we have won matches from this situation in domestic cricket,” Hridoy stated. “We are middle-order batters so if we can get the momentum in the next two overs, the course of the match will change. That’s what happened. The rhythm changed in those two overs.
“We caught to a plan. We tried to bat with calculative dangers. We have been targeted on execution. International opponents are difficult. Everyone has a powerful aspect. We tried to be optimistic.
“We reacted to the demand of the situation. Regardless of the opposition, this type of win always gives the players a lot of confidence. I am happy to have walked off with the win. These opportunities don’t come always.”
But Shamim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz getting out, adopted by Janat’s hat-trick underlined the chance Bangladesh are taking by enjoying six bowlers. This technique strengthens the bowling, however places quite a lot of onus on Nos. 6 and seven to complete off video games. Taskin Ahmed is probably the most able to the batters from Nos. 8 to 11. Among the others, Shoriful, Nasum and Taijul Islam can maintain their very own however Ebadot Hossain and Hasan Mahmud are real No. 11s.
How the batting coaches form and enhance the final 4 batting spots will go a great distance in Bangladesh’s quest for glory within the two huge white-ball tournaments later this 12 months.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84