Bangladeshi batsman Anamul Haque wants to avoid the mistake he made off the final ball in the first Twenty20 against Sri Lanka and is looking forward to dispatching the ball out of the park the next time a similar delivery is offered. Anamul, who returned to the side after being dropped from the Test squad, almost single-handedly guided Bangladesh to a memorable win against Sri Lanka before losing his wicket off the last delivery of the match to enable the Islanders to secure a two-run victory.
‘Right now, all that’s in my mind is which side of the boundary to blast the ball if I get a similar delivery in the next match,’ said Anamul.
‘Obviously [it’s] nothing to feel bad about.’
‘Yesterday is gone and I can’t get that back. But now I am thinking of what I can do tomorrow for my side,’ he added.
The right-hander, who made his return with his maiden Twenty20 half-century, wants to look ahead and forget the disappointment.
‘Obviously I was upset to not win the match. It felt bad at that point,’ said Anamul.
‘But after that I told myself that this was just my second T20 game. I might have ten more T20s like this ahead of me; what will I do then? I just want to look ahead.’
Anamul added that he did not get the ball where he expected it but denied that his shot was affected by nervousness.
‘Actually sometimes, full tosses, half volleys, people miss them,’ said Anamul, who top edged a waist-height full toss from Thisara Perera.
‘Nothing about nerves; I needed 17 off the last over and I already had taken 14, so it wasn’t about being nervous. Probably if I got the ball according to my expectations I could have dispatched it,’ he said.
‘In the last ball, looking at all the balls he delivered, I felt that he would bowl a yorker or try a slower [one]. I thought of a number of things in my head. The aim was that no matter what, I have to hit a boundary.’
Anamul refused to comment on the umpiring issue, though the decision of the TV umpire not to rule that the delivery was a no-ball was widely criticised.
‘No that was completely the umpire’s decision. No-ball, wide ball or run out, we can’t say anything about that. I tried to hit the boundary but I guess I couldn’t,’ said Anamul.
‘After the ball, yes I was a bit hopeful. It happens normally in test cricket, when I was out on seven the wicket was withdrawn because of a no-ball so these things happen,’ he added.
Anamul was caught behind on one against New Zealand in the first Test match against New Zealand in 2013 but was not out as Doug Bracewell’s delivery was adjudged a no-ball.
-With New Age input
