GENERAL PRESS 24
Before August 3, the Bangladesh team had no win in the T20 against Australia, losing all four matches. What a surprise, Bangladesh won the series 4-1 in a week’s time at home against the mighty Australia! Several records were written after the last match of the series last night. The Bangladesh-Australia series also gave two hints invisibly.
The first one has been discussed extensively Mirpur’s wicket. Former Sri Lankan coach Chandika Haturasinghe’s ‘Brain Child’ is such a slow and uneven kalerkantho bounce wicket. The wickets of Mirpur used to behave in such a manner only against the countries accustomed to playing bouncy wickets. Therefore, it was expected that Bangladesh would play after leaving Australia on a ‘sponge’ wicket. However, pointing to this wicket, national selector Habibul Bashar did not consider Mahmud Ullah’s series win any less glorious. “Everyone takes home advantage,” he said. No matter how much you like the wicket, you have to win but only if you play well. I will say, it is a great victory. The boys played great cricket. ‘
Habibul Bashar, the captain of the team that won the first ODI against Australia, did not exaggerate. There was help from wickets, but Bangladesh won by playing smart cricket on support wickets. Many have contributed to that victory. There was never a scattering of match winners in the Bangladesh team, the winning car of Bangladesh reached the destination on the shoulders of many. This series is no exception. With the exception of one or two, everyone has contributed more or less to the 4-1 series win over Australia.
Shakib Al Hasan is the best player in the five-match series. His all-round prowess in the top three at bat-ball is unmatched. So there is no controversy in giving the series award to Shakib. But there is a silent claimant in the Bangladesh team, Mustafizur Rahman.
Not Shakib, the Australian team and the country’s media has done more research on Mustafiz’s incomprehensible bowling. If the ball is ‘gripped’ on the wicket, Dhoka Khan, the left-arm fast bowler of Bangladesh, is also the best batsman in the world. In this series, seeing the visiting batsmen batting against Mustafiz, sometimes it seemed like a comic! The batsman who could not find the ball even after batting repeatedly was seen smiling in frustration. So Mustafiz is the best wicket average and run per over. Even the most influential cricketer of the whole series with the naked eye. In the third match of the series determining the fate of the wicketless Mustafiz gave a total of 9 runs! In his spell, the visiting batsmen rushed for runs and gave wickets to other bowlers.
Captain Mahmud Ullah has also made great use of Mustafiz. Of course, why only this left-arm pacer, bowling changes, field set intelligence as well as one of the two fifties Mahmud of Bangladesh in this series. Of course, skill is expected from Shakib, Mustafiz and Mahmud. This series has aroused even more optimism, a glimpse of the skill of two relatively young people – Afif Hossain and Nurul Hasan.
Afif Hossain seems to be the most comfortable in the incomprehensible wicket of Mirpur. He did not score too many runs in the lower order, but this youngster has been seen batting more confidently than others. Although he made his debut in international cricket in 2016, Nurul Hasan was not getting a place in the team due to various combinations and unknown reasons. However, after Zimbabwe, he is confident that he has the ability behind and in front of the wicket in the Australia series. There was no doubt about Nurul’s skill behind the wicket, he is the best wicket keeper in the country. However, there was a lack of reliance on batting. At least Nurul has promised to come out of that deficit in two consecutive series.
