Bangladesh batsman Shakib Al Hasan is having wonderful time with the bat in the ongoing World Cup. The talented all rounder scored his maiden World Cup hundred against England on Saturday.
However, his century went in vain as Bangladesh were comprehensively beaten by hosts by 106 runs. But Shakib Al Hasan have been prolific with the bat after being promoted to No.3 in the batting lineup.
He scored two fifties and one hundred in three innings so far in ICC World Cup 2019. But Shakib has revealed that he needed to convince everyone on the team to let him bat at No. 3. He also revealed had he failed, he might have been pushed down to number five again.
“Yeah, (I needed to convince) everyone. Because if I don’t score runs in a single match, they would think he should be batting at number five he’s better down there. It is different. You need to face some different challenges.
“But I’m enjoying at this moment, but having said that, it’s just the start, I need to contribute as much as I can with both bat and ball,” said Shakib.
Shakib is the lone warrior in Bangladesh’s chase against England. Even though, Bangladesh were seriously outplayed, Shakib ensured that they amassed as many runs as possible. No other player was able to support Shakib and the team were bundled out for 280.
Bangladesh disappointed with their bowling to England batsmen on Saturday.
Although, Bangladesh played well against South Africa and New Zealand, they failed against England. Their bowling was sub par against the hosts. Bangladesh bowlers did not have any answers to the onslaught of English batsmen.
They eventually ended up giving 386 runs in 50 overs. England broke few records in the process of their innings. They also scored the highest runs in a World Cup innings on Saturday. Add to the bowling woes, Bangladesh batting is not so good at the moment.
Apart from Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, others are not playing to their potential. This will cost Bangladesh badly in the next games, if it is not addressed.
“We are disappointed with the result, and the manner we actually bowled. I thought we bowled really, really well against South Africa and against New Zealand,” he said.
“We were expecting a better bowling performance in this match. But obviously, England played brilliantly. Credit goes to their batsmen. The way their openers started, and the way (Jos) Buttler finished the innings was the turning point of the match I think.”
England Pacers Were Ruthless in Opening Spell
On the other hand, once Bangladesh came out to bat, English opening pace duo Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are on fire. They bowled with discipline and fiery pace. Eventually, Bangladesh innings never took off in the powerplay and they lost any hopes of chasing 388 in first 10 overs.
Shakib Al Hasan was full of praise for both Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. However, he is happy with the way he played them in the opening spell.
“They are quick. It was a difficult challenge, but I enjoyed it. Obviously, they are the two quickest bowlers in this World Cup, so I knew that it’s going to be tough, but I felt very happy with the way I played them,” he added.