Mahmudullah sees good chance to beat Australia
Emboldened by their series victory in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad was bullish about their chance to beat Australia in the first bilateral T20 International between the two sides.
The 5-match T20I series will begin on Tuesday with Bangladesh willing to show they are no longer a vulnerable side in this format.
What is needed is to play with an uncluttered mind and to keep the confidence in the ability, said Mahmudullah, who also believes Bangladesh have a good chance to beat Australia for the first time in this format of cricket.
“Confidence is more important here than dominating the opposition. If we can play with full confidence and find our rhythm, it will work for us,” Mahmudullah said on Monday during a virtual press conference.
“If we put pressure on ourselves for being the host side, it will not work. I think playing with an uncluttered mind will be the key,” he added.
Their absence didn’t go well for the Aussies, who lost the five-match T20I series against West Indies. However, the Kangaroos bounced back in the ODI series and beat the host by 2-1.
Bangladesh should be ahead of the visitors in the series in terms of experience. However, Mahmudullah was reluctant to take this into consideration, saying that playing well on a given day matters most.
“T20 is such a format where you can defeat any one on a particular day, it hardly matters who is top ranked or not. It’s true that they are missing some of their important players. At the same time we are also missing some important players like Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das. It’s a great opportunity for us as a team and other players to show our standard. I believe that we are a balanced side in our home and will try to prove it.”
The Aussies, however, never lost a T20I match against Bangladesh. The two sides only played four matches, all of which were played during different World Cups.
Regarding this, Mahmudullah said, “It is tough to predict if it is a good occasion to conquer Aussies or not. They are a strong side and play good cricket. Rather it is more important to execute our plans and play according to the situation. I think it is going to be a fantastic series. We are waiting to play our best.”
The emergence of Shamim Patwari gave Bangladesh a hard-hitter option lower down the order for which they were craving for. At the same time, Bangladesh also had players like Nurul Hasan Sohan and Afif Hossain who can take the finisher role.
Mahmudullah believes these young players could change the dynamics of the series. “I think Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Hossain and Afif are very capable of finishing the game. They are in good rhythm at the moment. I am relying on them entirely. I hope the trio will also show their talent in this series as well,” he added.
Due to the trio, Mahmudullah thought the option was created for him to bat at the top order. Mahmudullah earlier played lower down the order as Bangladesh had the lack of finishers.
“Our T20I team is very balanced right now. If you take a look, we got 5-6 players who are genuine all-rounders. We have a good pace attack, bolstered with Mustafizur, Taskin, Shoriful, Rubel Hossain and Saifuddin. And we have good and world class spinners as well.”