SPORTS

Mahmudullah seeking good start to gain momentum

Leaving the catastrophic Twenty20 World Cup performance behind them, Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad wants to have a winning start against Pakistan tomorrow to gain momentum for the three-match T20 International series.

Mahmudullah said momentum is imperative for Bangladesh to do well in any condition of any part of the world.

“We know there was high expectation on us to do well in the T20 World Cup but we failed to meet that up. I believe that a good start is always important for the Bangladesh team. So we are looking for a good start and gain the momentum for the whole series,” Mahmudullah said here today in a virtual press conference ahead of the first T20 game.

The team that Bangladesh will field will be a completely new look from the one that played in the T20 World Cup recently. As many as six players were called up including four newcomers in response to catastrophic performances in the global event in which Bangladesh failed to register any victory in the Super 12s. The side also experienced a shock defeat to Scotland in the qualifying round before huffing and puffing their way to play the Super 12s, beating Oman and Papua New Guinea.

For the first time in many years, Bangladesh will be without their three stalwarts in the game—Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were unavailable due to injuries and Mushfiqur Rahim was rested. The only senior player in the side remains Mahmudullah Riyad who retained his captaincy despite a poor outing in the World Cup.

From the World Cup party, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Rubel Hossain were left out and allrounder Saifuddin missed the series due to his recurring back pain.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Aminul Islam Biplob were recalled while Under-19 World Cup winning captain Akbar Ali, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and pacer Shohidul Islam made the cut as fresh bloods in this format.

The sweeping changes were predicted but little did anyone anticipate such a complete overhaul to the side.

Mahmudullah said he really didn’t want to talk about the World Cup now, rather he wanted to focus on this three-match T20 series.

“We are just focusing on this T20 game. We are looking to contribute handsomely and that’s the primary goal. What happened in the World Cup is now past and talking about the World Cup could have a negative impact. We are staying positive. Still it’s a challenging series because Pakistan are one of the best teams in the world at this moment,” he said, adding that the newcomers would also be desperate to show good performance.

“For a young team like us it is always challenging but what I believe is that T20 is such a game, where sometimes even you can’t win with your full strength team. You have to play well on the certain day whatever the team you have. I am indeed hoping for the best.”

Mahmudullah said they also have a plan for Shaeen Shah Afridi who made a habit of taking wickets in the first powerplay.

“With new ball Shaheen Afridi is probably the best at this moment in this format. We are aware of that and we have a plan up in the sleeves against him,” he remarked.

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