After claiming a monumental series win against the Aussies, Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad now wants better performances from his batsmen in the remaining games of the series.
Bangladesh defeated Australia by 10 runs in the third Twenty20 international of the five-match series to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Despite the series win, Bangladesh batsmen have failed to score runs regularly as the Tigers scored 131 and 127 in the two innings they batted first. In the other one, they were five down for 67 before Afif Hossain and Nurul Hasan Sohan rescued them to seal a win.
Ahead of the final two matches, Mahmudullah wants his batsmen to perform better as that will also help the bowlers.
“We should bat even better. I want us to improve in batting in the last two matches. Our batsmen must take responsibility, we have that ability. We can adapt to the condition and do better. This will also boost the confidence of the bowlers as they will have a bigger score to defend,” the Bangladesh skipper said after their victory.
Mahmudullah was all praise about Mustafizur Rahman, the hero of the hour. ‘The Fizz’ bowled four overs and gave away only nine runs with 15 dot deliveries. When Australia needed 23 from two overs, Mustafiz came in and gave away only one, allowing Shak Mahedi Hasan to have some breathing space in the last over.
The Bangladesh skipper said that despite not getting any wickets, Mustafiz’s spell was no less than a five-wicket haul.
“Mustafiz’s today’s spell (4-0-9-0) was no less than a five-wicket haul. It was a extremely valuable spell, especially giving away only one run in the penultimate over. I always believe that he is a champion and a world-class bowler. Hopefully, he will win us a lot of matches in the future,” he said.
Mahmudullah added that the success they are enjoying is the credit of the whole team and that they knew from the start how important this series was.
“Credit goes to the full team. How the boys played, their hunger, their attitude, it was a team effort. We all backed each other because we know how important this series was.
“We all had the belief that we are a good team and we can and should do better. It was important to spread that belief. The boys supported each other very well and it was evident on the field,” Mahmudullah said.
The Bangladesh skipper is not just content with the series victory and wants to win the next match too.
“We have a golden opportunity for a win tomorrow (today),” Tigers’ T20I skipper added.
