Bangladesh’s batting depth comes into light as they followed their one-day international series clean sweep to break their Twenty20 duck against Pakistan on Friday. Unlike the one-day series, the openers failed to provide them a sparkling start and Mushfiqur Rahim also showed rare failure but it could not prevent the Tigers from posting another dominant win. After restricting Pakistan to 141-5, the Tigers raced to 143-3 with as many as 22 balls in hand, which underlined their dominance over the visitors once again.
Sakib al Hasan chose this game to show why he is still regarded as the most destructive batsman in the Bangladesh side and Sabbir Rahman also made no mistake to show his potential.
Sakib hit 57 off 41 balls and Sabbir added 51 off 32 balls as the duo toyed with Pakistani bowlers to help the Tigers post their first win against the visitors in eighth attempt.
‘I like Twenty20 format more than one-dayer,’ said an elated Sabbir, who took the man of the match award for his marauding innings inclusive of seven fours and one six.
‘This is first time I have contributed significantly to a win, which gave me more satisfaction.’
Sabbir, one of the cleanest hitters in the Bangladesh team, underlined his potential with a century in the warm-up match at Fatullah.
But he got a chance to bat only two overs in the one-day series, which was completely dominated by Bangladesh’s top-order batsmen.
Sabbir still showed no sign of rust when he went on to bat and the right-hander gave Mushfiqur Rahim some credit for it.
‘When I was going to bat, Mushfiq Bhai told me that it was a good wicket. Batsmen tend to blame wicket when they get out. But when Mushfiq Bhai told me the opposite words, it gave me confidence.’
Skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza was also happy to see Sakib al Hasan spending some quality time in the middle ahead of Test series, which is equally important for Bangladesh.
‘It’s really important for us that Sakib got some runs,’ he said. Our top-order failed but Sakib and Sabbir showed our batting really possesses some depth.
‘I am happy that we could post a win in Twenty20 format. I would say still we are not a very good side in this format. But if we can continue this we will soon become a force in this format too,’ he said.
The two teams will now play a two match Test series, beginning with the first Test in Khulna on April 28.
Mashrafee hoped the Tigers will carry the momentum now in Test too.
‘We have been working really hard for the last six to seven months for this. I am sure that the boys will deliver in Tests too,’ he said.
-With New Age input
