Most important practice is to stay in the game: Shakib al Hasan

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan became the leading wicket-taker across all the three formats for Bangladesh during the first ODI against Afghanistan at the Shere Bangla Stadium.

Tamim Iqbal’s 80, Mahmudullah’s 62, and a quickfire 48 from Shakib helped the home side to posts a total of 265. The target of 266 was not out of reach for Afghanistan and they were well on course, courtesy a 144-run stand between Rahmat Shah (71) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (72) for the third wicket.

However, Shakib broke the partnership in the 41st over to turn the match on its head. Bangladesh went on to win the match by a small margin of 7 runs.

“I think the turning points were when I conceded one run (in the 47th over) and, before that, the breakthrough I made (in the 41st over) when they were getting a big stand,” Shakib said in Dhaka after the win.”

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“Actually our job is not to think; our job is to do it. We have to keep believing that we can win this game and that belief was there. Because we were playing after almost a year, it was difficult for a while. It was in the body language. Our fielding wasn’t that good. This will get better soon,” added the all-rounder.

Shakib, who was awarded Man of the Match for his all-round performance, said that Bangladesh was lacking match practice and lamented that it becomes lot easier when you keep playing matches.

“The most important practice is to stay in the game and to play the game. No matter how much you run or practice, match fitness is something else altogether. When you keep playing matches, things become a lot easier. No matter what situation you try to create in practice, it won’t reach that level,” the left-arm spinner said.

Shakib praised the duo and said, “Rubel (Hossain) returned from injury and Taskin (Ahmed) returned from suspension, so it was difficult for both. At the start, they didn’t do well but in the last three overs, they were solid.”

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The second ODI match of the three-match series will be played on Wednesday (September 28).