Pace bowler Al Amin Hossain on Tuesday said that he was relieved to make a contribution in the game against Nepal as he could not play any substantial role in the opening game against Afghanistan. Bangladesh thrashed the Afghans by nine wickets in the Group A opener after bowling them out for just 72 runs but Al Amim failed to deliver as he gave away 18 runs in two overs raising questions over his line and length.
The right-arm paceman appeared to be making the same mistakes at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong where he conceded eight runs in his first over which prompted skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to take him out of the attack.
But he returned in style to pick up two wickets in the span of three deliveries in the seventh over to give the hosts an edge over the visitors as Nepal were reeling at 39-3.
‘I was trying to make a comeback in this game,’ Al Amin told the media during the post match press conference.
‘It is my first World [T20], and this is my third T20 match at this level. In the first game [my] bowling wasn’t too bad,’ he said.
Al Amin added that after the first over he changed his gameplan and it worked out.
‘In the first over I had a tough time controlling the ball because of the dew,’ said Al Amin.
‘I was thinking afterwards that I have to make amends in the next three overs.
‘The wicket had grass and I had to make it count. I tried to do that,’ he said adding that the wicket had very little to offer for the spinners. ‘The wicket wasn’t particularly great for spinners. Our bowlers like [Abdur Razzak] Raj bhai and Sakib bhai struggled to bowl.
‘We took a few early wickets but if Sakib bhai and Raj bhai could have got us a few more in the middle overs, we could have wrapped them up for a smaller total,’ he said.
Al Amin stated that the experience of bowling in dewy condition was new to him.
‘I bowled a few wides but I must say that I have never faced it in my life. I saw that the seam was wet when I looked at it before bowling the second ball. I bowled cross-seam for a while and then I used the seam when it was drier,’ he said.
Al Amin went on to say that he still takes inspiration from his world record feat which he created in domestic cricket last year.
Al Amin became the latest Bangladeshi cricketer to make history in an eventful 2013, taking five wickets in an over against Abahani Limited in the Amber Victory Day T20 competition in Sylhet.
The 24-year old took the ball for the final over of Abahani’s innings and dismissed Mehedi Maruf with the first ball after Arafat Sunny held on to a catch while the runners crossed.
Then he scalped the wicket of Nazmul Hossain Milon, making him the first of four consecutive victims and tied Andre Russell’s record of four wickets from successive deliveries, set in Bangalore in September last year when the West Indies A side lost to India A.
‘Whatever good performance I have displayed in the past, I feel as though I can repeat it so it does act like an inspiration,’ said Al Amin.
BRIEF SCORES
Nepal 126-5 in 20 overs (P Khadka 41, S Vesawkar 40, Al-Amin 2-17) v Bangladesh 132-2 in 15.3 overs (Anamul 42, Sakib 37 not out, Tamim 30, Sabbir 21 not out)
Result: Bangladesh won by 8 wickets.
Man of the match: Al-Amin (BNG)
-With New Age input
