Mahmudullah sees big opportunities for youngsters
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Afif Hossain opens up about his struggles under Hathurusingha
21 Jan 25
Bangladesh T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad said that playing without seniors has to be accepted. He also sees the absence of seniors as an opportunity for the young cricketers.
Bangladesh side played the first T20 match without three experienced players including wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim, who ruled out of the first match as he suffered a finger injury and old shoulder injury while Tamim Iqbal withdrawn his name from the T20 series stating personal reasons and Shakib Al Hasan took paternity leave.
In the absence of the experienced players, Afif Hossain, Naim Sheikh and debutants Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam got the opportunity to play the match. Both Naim and Afif perform well with the bat, on the other hand, left-arm spinner Nasum took two wickets.
“I think it was a very good chance for players like Naim Sheikh, Afif Hossain, the two debutants (Shoriful-Nasum) today, so it was a good opportunity for them to show the world how good they are, but we need to put a step up, as we won’t get a squad filled with experienced players, and we need to deal with that; so someone needs to raise their hands up, as they are very talented, and capable to win matches for Bangladesh.” He said.
After the defeat in the three-match ODI series 3-0, Bangladesh started the T20 series with a 66-run defeat against New Zealand. Mahmudullah thought there was a chance to take the lead in the match, but he also praised Devon Conway for his consistency with the bat.
“I think we had a chance, in the field; in the first few overs we took a couple of wickets, their runs were under seven runs per over, but the way Devon (Conway) has batted, I think he has been prolific in his batting, he has been very consistent in his last few innings. But we had our chances, as I had said, in the boundary, but it went for six.” He added.
