Opener Anamul Haque said on Wednesday that he keeps his century against West Indies in the first one-day international of the three-match series ahead of two other centuries he scored so far. Anamul scored 109 runs from 138 balls, his first century away from home, that helped the Tigers post 217-9, though it went in vain as Kieron Pollard overshadowed his innings to play an innings of 89 off 70 balls under pressure to seal the win for West Indies.
It was Anamul’s third ODI century and second against West Indies with the other one coming against Pakistan, but considering the condition and the attack he decided to credit this effort as special.
‘True merit of a batsman is judged by the way how he performs abroad rather than how he fared back home,’ Anamul told reporters after the match after the three-wicket loss in Grenada.
‘I will keep this century ahead of all of my hundreds as they had Roach [Kemar], Bravo [Dwayne], Rampaul [Ravi] and Narine [Sunil] in their attack.
‘I am proud that I could score an international century against such an attack and that too in their own backyard.
‘The century against Pakistan was also a good one as that had come against world-class bowlers like Azmal and Afridi,’
The right-handed opener said that there was no special reason behind screaming after reaching the milestone but he was very happy to reach the three-digit figure after working hard for it.
‘There was no reason behind it [screaming], but I really yearned for this century. ’ said Anamul
‘I really worked hard and tried to realise what can happen in a bouncy wicket.’
Anamul had to toil on a slow wicket for his every run and could not improvise on any occasion until he reached the three-figure mark. His best shot, a paddle sweep, came only after his century, which also underlined his patience.
The opener could not be held reponsible for keeping his shot in check as he hardly received any support from the other end. After his 109, Bangladesh’s second highest innings was 26, scored by Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain.
Anamul said he innings was an outcome of some rigorous work that he did in practice.
‘I worked with my footwork and they possess a world class bowling attack so it was required that someone from the core batting group to shine to take the team to a good position.
‘If an opener plays a long innings it brings extra confidence to the team. So you can say the celebration was of some kind considering every aspect,’ said Anamul.
-With New Age input
