Bangladesh getting reward of skill hitting- McKenzie
Image- Getty
||CF Correspondent||
Bangladesh national team batting coach Neil McKenzie said that Bangladesh batsmen are getting the reward of working on skill hitting batting which has become evident in the recent full-fledge series against Zimbabwe- ended with the second and last T20 of the series on Wednesday.
Bangladesh opener Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal were the two notable performers throughout the series, especially in shorter format for the host side.
Both the openers scored two hundreds while Liton Das came very close to double hundred, scoring 176 runs, surpassing Tamim’s record breaking 158, in the last match of the three-match one-day series.
McKenzie, who has been working as the batting consultant of Bangladesh national team for last couple of years now, said that he worked on skill hitting with Bangladeshi batsmen rather than going with power hitting.
“If you look at Bangladesh history, their best format is ODI, so I think its bit of skills hitting for them,” Mackenzie told reporter on Wednesday at Sher-e-Bangla National cricket Stadium.
“Not looking for the ones and then the six, there is lot of shots in between that they can look to play. So we have worked for last couple of years in terms of the skill hitting and then the big thing for the T20 is now that they are hitting at the back end,” Mackenzie said adding that Shoumya also among the few guys from Bangladesh squad who can also bat in the same manner as Liton and Tamim.
“They have to be best with the hands and they really good work ethics. They worked really hard and trying to clear the boundaries. It’s always good to see when Tamim, Liton Das play and clearing the boundaries. And also shoumya- they are few in the squad who can clear the boundaries,” he added later.
Shoumya, who was a surprise inclusion in Tigers’ squad before the last ODI against Zimbabwe, got his first opportunity in the playing XI since the Lahore Test against Pakistan.
The dashing left handed batsman scored a not out 32-ball 62 in the first T20 of the series.
But Liton, who has been highly admired in cricket fraternity for his eye-soothing grammatical shots, again showed off his God-gifted natural batting skill in the shorter format.
The 25-year-old right handed batsman Liton scored the most runs in an innings among Bangladesh batsmen with his 176-run knock. The batsman also scored unbeaten 126 runs in the first ODI, but had to leave being retired hurt after twisting his ankle while there was still 15 overs left.
Neil was full of praise when he was talking about the outcome from Liton Das, who may going to be the one of the best batsmen of next generation.
“What I have really liked about Liton is, how he came out there and we know how attentive he is and with his right hand… he is very hungry too. He got some big big runs” said Tigers’ batting consultant Neil McKenzie.
