Bangladesh Twenty20 skipper Shakib Al Hasan wants to transform the Tigers into a side that can excel in the 20-over format in every condition and type of wicket.
The Shakib-led Bangladesh team pulled off a convincing six-wicket win over England in the first T20 of the three-match series in Chattogram’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Thursday, which is Bangladesh’s first ever win over the English side in the shortest format.
Shakib played a crucial role in the victory, scoring 34 runs off 24 balls and claiming 1-26 in his four overs.
After the win, the all-rounder inaugurated a showroom in the city, where he expressed his desire of developing the current T20 side into a team that can perform win anywhere, regardless of the condition and the nature of the pitch.
“We don’t want to think about the wicket or the condition. We want to become a good team and adjust to every condition. That’s what good teams do,” Shakib said at the event.
Bangladesh is now leading the three-match T20 series 1-0 and are one victory away from sealing their maiden series win over England in any format of the game.
Shakib, however, refrained from making any bold prediction, “England is a really good team. We have to play well. We did well in the first game, we will try to do well in the next matches as well.”
Najmul Hossain Shanto was Bangladesh’s star performer with the bat on Thursday. The left-hander hit a 30-ball 51 to set Bangladesh on course of chasing down the 156-run target set by England.
Debutant Towhid Hridoy also scored a handy 24 off 17 balls and opener Rony Talukdar, who returned to the national side after a gap of eight years, also chipped in with 21 off 14 balls. Afif Hossain stayed with Shakib till the end with 15 off 13 balls to ensure the victory.
A Bangladesh team with quite a few new faces defeated the reigning T20 World Champions. Shakib was thrilled with the victory but now wants the team to go from strength to strength moving forward.
“The start has been good. Now we need to keep working hard to make sure we can keep moving forward. We will try to do exactly that and keep playing well.”
The strike rates of Shanto, Rony and Towhid in the first T20 was 170, 150 and 141 respectively. Shakib himself had a strike rate of 141.
Shakib wants the younger players to grab opportunities whenever they present themselves, “When someone plays well like this or when a new player can come into his own in the team, it’s great for the team, it’s good for the player also.”