Recalled opening batsman Imrul Kayes, who was selected in the Bangladesh squad for the first Test match against Sri Lanka, said on Friday that some recent adjustments to his technique allowed him to bat more comfortably. Imrul made a comeback to the national fold after three years in the wilderness and had played the last of his 16 Test matches against West Indies at home in 2011.
The left-handed batsman credited technical changes to his batting as the reason behind his rich vein of form in the domestic competitions recently that has helped him earn a call-up to the national side for the first of two Tests against Sri Lanka starting on Monday at Mirpur.
Imrul had a prolific domestic season, scoring 223 runs from two four-day games in the franchise-based longer-version Bangladesh Cricket League and was also the second highest run-getter in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League with 655 runs.
‘Obviously it feels nice to be back again but the enjoyment would be bigger if I get a chance in the Test matches,’ Kayes told reporters at Mirpur. ‘When you are batting well you can play any stroke and I really worked hard with [Nazmul Abedin] Fahim sir on my batting.’
‘I worked on my balance with Fahim sir as I had some problems with it. Now, as it is all worked out I am batting more comfortably and easily.
‘I had made some technical changes but importantly I changed my mentality that is required to play Test cricket. Overall I had to put in a lot of hard work and that is the reason why I was successful.’
The 26-year old Meherpur-lad, who often played second fiddle to the swashbuckling Tamim Iqbal, received a boost in confidence from national coach Shane Jurgensen, who asked Imrul to play his natural game.
‘[Imrul] should bat in the same manner that is proving to be successful,’ said Jurgensen. ‘The only difference now is that he is batting a lot straighter and he has the hunger to stay at the wicket for a good amount of time.’
-With New Age input
