Bangladesh Cricket

Akbar Ali honoured to be named in ESPN top 20-player list

Online Desk

27 Jun 20 17:25:00

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|| Desk Report ||

Bangladesh World Cup-winning U19 captain Akbar Ali is honoured to be named among 20 players who can command the next decade by popular website ESPN Cricinfo.

No other batsman and bowler from Bangladesh burst into the ESPN top 20-player list. The other 19 cricketers who were selected in the list of 20 cricketers for the 2020s are – India batsman Shubman Gill, England batsman Tom Banton, Afghanistan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed, Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah, Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Philippe, New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, India fast bowler Kartik Tyagi, England batsman Ollie Pope, Afghanistan batsman Ibrahim Zadran, South Africa fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, India batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, Afghanistan wicketkeeper batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz, West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales, Pakistan batsman Haider Ali, Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad, Australia batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk, India batsman Prithvi Shaw, Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf and Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

The cricket monthly magazine of ESPNcricinfo prepared the credible list, asking 15 coaches, scouts, analysts, players and observers around the world.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who scored unbeaten 43 runs in the ICC Under-19 World Cup final against India that was instrumental in youth Tigers winning their first major ICC Trophy, is also honoured by the popular cricket website choice in picking him.

“Those who were in the selection panel are the legend of cricket and other sectors. So when they selected me in the 20 cricketers, it meant a lot,” Akbar Ali said.

“It has inspired me immensely. I have to take more responsibility now. This is an honour and I have to prove that they were right to select me,” Ali added.

However the outbreak of Covid-19 means Akbar and company has to confine them to the home rather than in the cricket ground.

“We have been out of skill training for the last three months,” Akbar said.

“One round of Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match is the last that we had played. We are really desperate to start cricket but what to do. The situation is not good,” he also said.

“Hopefully the situation will be normal again and allow us to play cricket,” he added.