Uncapped Shamsur Rahman on Monday said that not taking undue pressure upon himself eventually helped him to get into the Bangladesh squad for the first home Test match against Sri Lanka starting January 27. Gone are the days when Shamsur spent most of his time fretting about what went wrong as the hard-hitting batsman could not claim a place in the side despite being picked for the national squad in the ICC World Twenty20 in England five years ago.
Shamsur had to be content with a place on the bench as competition for places was intense.
Afterwards, it got worse for the 25-year old right-handed batsman as he was not considered for selection until 2013. His four T20 Internationals and two one-dayers however could give only a small idea the talent that he possessed.
Shamsur finally got some reward as he was selected in the Tigers’ 14-man squad for the first of two Test matches against Sri Lanka, rewarding his rich vein of form in the last couple of years.
‘I think during the last one and a half years I changed my thought process entirely,’ said Shamsur.
‘Instead of thinking of the past and getting bogged down I preferred to start everything from scratch and reserve all my energy in developing my skills as performance will ultimately be the deciding factor.’
Shamsur have had a rollercoaster ride in the national set-up before his Test call up. He was selected for a T20 International against Sri Lanka in March but it ended in despair as an incorrect leg-before decision from the umpire brought a premature end to his T20 bow.
The Comilla lad, however, made amends in the very next T20 against Zimbabwe, smashing a fifty to launch his career.
His ODI debut soon followed during the home series against New Zealand last year. Shamsur made 25 in the second one-dayer against the Kiwis but wasted little time in announcing his arrival on the ODI scene, smashing seven fours and four sixes in his knock of 96.
Shamsur though was not fully satisfied as he knew that Test cricket is the grandest stage for any international cricketer and he soon came to reckoning after scoring a double hundred recently in the franchise-based longer-version, Bangladesh Cricket League.
‘I am very close to experiencing the excitement of Test cricket and words cannot express the feelings I am going through at the moment,’ said the former student of BKSP.
While Shamsur expressed his excitement, opening batsman Imrul Kayes was determined to cement his place in the national set-up after earning a recall for the first time since 2011.
Imrul, who has played 16 Tests averaging 17.15, last appeared for the Tigers against the West Indies but a good run of form lately has enabled him to make a comeback through his stirring performances for Bangladesh A as well as in the domestic competitions.
‘It is satisfying for me to be back in the Tigers’ dressing room but the actual hard work starts now as I have to perform regularly to increase my stay,’ said Imrul.
‘I missed the dressing-room environment but at the same time realised that competition is very intense for all the places and it won’t take long for anyone to replace me if I am underperforming.’
-With New Age input
