Jan 20,2020
Bangladesh cricket team players jog during a training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday. — BCB photo
Bangladesh opener Nazmul Hossain on Monday was hopeful to come out of his shell in the national team’s forthcoming Twenty20 series in Pakistan after having a stop-start international career so far.
‘I am not thinking about it. It’s already in the past,’ Nazmul told reporters at the national team’s training camp in Mirpur after being asked about his underwhelming performances in international cricket.
‘I will just try to implement my learning and avoid past mistakes. I have prepared mentally. Hopefully if I get a chance I will be able to perform,’ he added.
Nazmul broke into the national team in 2017, after scoring heaps of runs at the Under-19 level, but has failed to emulate his success with the bat in the international arena.
The national selectors have tried out Nazmul in all three formats, but on every occasion the left-hander looked woefully out of place and has failed to command a position in any format even after three years in international career.
After making his Test debut against the Kiwis in New Zealand in January, 2017, Nazmul only managed to play one more match for Bangladesh in the five-day format, against Zimbabwe at home in November, 2018, scoring only 48 runs in his four innings.
The 21-year old then opened for Bangladesh in three consecutive one-day internationals in the 2018 Asia Cup, but failed to get into the double figures, collectively scoring only 20 runs in three outings.
The selectors next tried out the batsman in the shortest format in last year’s home tri-nation against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan but Nazmul again disappointed them, scoring just 16 runs in two matches.
Nazmul continued to look inept in Twenty20s in the first half of the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League, where he played for Khulna Tigers, but turned it around in the final part of the tournament.
Nazmul smashed an unbeaten 115 against Dhaka Platoon in his side’s final group-stage match before hitting an unbeaten 75 against eventual winners Rajshahi Royals in the first qualifier to take his team to the final.
The form Nazmul showed in the last phase of BPL7 and the absence of Bangladesh’s middle-order Mushfiqur Rahim, earned him a spot in Bangladesh’s Twenty20 squad for their three-match series in Pakistan.
Nazmul felt his change in mind-set was the key behind his big scores in BPL and was confident that his new found confidence will help him perform in Pakistan.
‘I feel that my mentality has changed a lot. Now I believe that I can score runs in this format too. As I couldn’t score in the first few matches, my confidence was a little low.
‘Then I took some mental preparation to score runs in this format. I tried to instil that belief in me. Because of that I scored runs in the last few matches.
‘If I can play according to my plans and strength, then inshallah, I will also do well there,’ Nazmul said.
