Belief of Teammates, coach fuels me: Ziaur
Ziaur Rahman. -BCB
||CF Correspondent||
Zaiur Rahman said he was fuelled by the belief of his teammates and coach, who continuously kept telling him that ‘Zia Vai’ –‘Come on, you have the ability to do it.’
The hard-hitter batsman said it was such a confidence-booster for him that he ended up one of the most memorable T20 knock played by any Bangladeshi batsman in this format.
However, a six-laden 29 ball-72 not out, which scripted Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club’s five-wicket victory over Shinepukur Cricket Club in the first semifinal of the DPL T20 showed what he is capable of if he is on song.
Considered as the country’s one of the biggest hitter of the ball, Ziaur’s career was not blossomed in the national fold as it was expected. He played one Test, 13 ODIs and 14 T20 Internationals so far in his short career but there was high expectation on him to thrive in the T20 format because of his playing style.
He played his last of 14 T20 in 2014 after which he never made it to the national team, vastly because of his inconsistent performances in the domestic cricket.
“Every cricket has the dream to play in the national team; I am not the exception,” he said after his match-defining knock on Friday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. “At the moment, I am just focusing on my performance. I did well here in this match, the next is the final game. I definitely want to do well there.”
The DPL T20 is arranged for the first time in a bid to give the local players a chance to acclimatize with the format, a format in which Bangladeshi players are believed to be vulnerable always. There was BPL T20 tournament but most of the local players couldn’t make their presence known because of the domination of the world-class foreign players.
“I did well in NCL, BCL and made runs but I was not getting my chance in the shortest format of the cricket. I didn’t even get chance to play BPL this season but it is important to get your chance,” he said.
“The belief of coach and team management on a player is imperative to give that particular player confidence. Here in our team, everybody keeps belief on me, which charged me up. They continuously kept telling that ‘Zia Vai’ you can do it. So it was a confidence-booster.”
Ziaur said he was not surprised to see him playing this sort of innings as he believed that he is capable of playing such in any format of the cricket.
“When I was in the national team, most of the time I got chance to bat in the last two or three overs. It is difficult to go for the ultimate kill in International cricket. The condition was different, the bowlers who bowled at the death are the team’s best bowlers. But I believe if I do get the chance of batting higher at the order, I can do well,” he revealed.
The 29 ball-72 was not Ziaur’s career best and his second half-century only in this format. The innings came at the moment when Sheikh Jamal was the receiving end, being reduced to 65-5 in the case of a 182 runs target.
Zaiur said he kept belief on his power-hitting ability to help the side through to the final. “The target was challenging but the wicket was good to bat on. I was confident that if I can keep my wicket intact, I can help the side overhaul the target,” he said.
This was the innings badly needed for him at this stage of his career, disclosed Ziaur. “This innings came at a moment when I needed this badly. I didn’t get enough chances in my career. Today I got 10 overs and I kept telling me that it is enough to do something. Fortunately, luck favours me and I am quite happy with that.”
