Shakib Al Hasan backs Rubel Hossain despite fatal penultimate over in Nidahas final

Team Bangladesh almost had the history written in their fate. They were in a commanding position in the finals of the Nidahas Trophy 2018. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan handed the ball to the most effective bowler of the team in the series, Rubel Hossain, with 34 runs needed off the final two overs. It was right then that the fortunes turned big time.

Dinesh Karthik clobbered 22 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Rubel Hossain to get India back in the match. He eventually sealed the game for India with an unbeaten 29 off 8 deliveries. Despite Rubel’s forgetful over, Shakib Al Hasan has backed his bowler. He noted that he would trust Rubel if a similar situation arises again. He rightly cited that it was insane batting from Karthik and such knocks do not come every now and then.

“To be honest he did not miss much of the plan when he bowled. I don’t know if there are many batsmen who can come and hit a six off the first ball, the next for a four and then again a six. Such batting is rare in history, it was miraculous batting. But he (Karthik) did that. Of course Rubel was nervous after giving away 10 runs from the first two balls and that is natural. But still I think I will back him if there is a similar situation in the future,” Shakib Al Hasan quoted.

On the defeat in the finals

Commenting further on similar lines, Shakib Al Hasan rightly noted that there is no point in crying over the lost game now. He admitted that the defeat was indeed a heart-wrenching one and was a very tough pill to swallow. However, he noted that the team has to move on and do better in the future.

It is worth noting that this was Bangladesh’s fifth consecutive loss in the finals of a multi-national series. He rated this defeat to be one of the toughest to digest. Also, he recalled that the defeat in the Asia Cup finals a couple of years ago was also a very disappointing one for the team.

“I actually don’t know… There is no point crying about it. Yes, there can be emotions attached to such occasions but there isn’t anything to do here. It’s not possible to rewind time, so we have to do better when there is a similar situation again. We have lost many close games and finals,” noted the Bangladeshi skipper.

“This was the fifth one (final) and all of them were close matches. The closest I think was the Asia Cup and then today’s one (Sunday)… I think this was even closer (than the Asia Cup). I think we are moving forward,” he added.

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