|| CF Correspondent ||

 Afif Hossain, who clinched gold medal in the 13th South Asian Games with Bangladesh under-23 team in Nepal, stated that the pitches and conditions were not well under their favor but they were able to adapt with the opposed circumstances that helped them to return with the gold for their country just at the beginning of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League.

With India and Pakistan teams’ negligence from participating in the event in the multi-event tournament where cricket have returned after a period of nine years, Bangladesh under-23 were quite dominant from the beginning of the tournament as they conceded just one defeat before their final fixture in group stage against Sri Lanka under-23 before winning the previous three matches against Maldives, Bhutan and host Nepal.

Eventually, along with Afif- Soumya Sarker, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mohammad Naim and Saif Hasan complied team were successful to beat Sri Lanka in the final to bring the second title in Bangladesh’s name from the prestigious South Asian multi-event tournament and Afif said, with having concerns with wickets and weather in Nepal, they are happy that they returned with the ‘great achievement’.

“It is not that easy as it looks. We had to adjust to the weather after going there. And the wicket was different there. It was difficult for everyone to make runs there for the batsmen. Overall we could adopt well” Afif told reporters during his practice session with Rajshahi Royals at the academy field of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

“This is really a big achievement to all of us. We never played such a tournament before. We were so excited that if we could win such a tournament, it would be a great achievement for us. We tried hard from the beginning to win the return as a winner. Everyone is very happy” he said.

Before starting his team’s opening fixture against Dhaka Platoon, Afif eyes to perform better avoiding the mistakes he made in the T20 tournament.

“The mistakes that I have made in last BPL events, I will try not to repeat that and perform better. I will try to give my best in every match so that I could perform well match by match” said Afif.

“Momentum of a tournament is an important thing. If we are able to start first, it goes well. Overall our team is in good condition. And happy to practice all together” he added.

With having Andre Russel as captain on Rajshahi’s side, Afif said he will try to learn the techniques from the Carribean who is famous for his big hitting ability.