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Shakib Al Hasan believes that Bangladesh feel more motivated to do well against bigger teams that don’t tour the country often. On Tuesday, the Bangladesh all-rounder bagged a four-wicket haul to help the team complete a 4-1 win in the T20I series against Australia.
The victory marked Bangladesh’s first-ever series win against Australia in international cricket. Before the tour, Bangladesh had registered only two wins (one in a Test and an ODI each) against Australia in international cricket. They have now raised the tally to six.
Shakib Al Hasan pointed out Bangladesh’s win over Zimbabwe in July and the fact that teams like Australia don’t play them regularly as the key motivators for the win.
“There is always a motivation when you play the bigger teams - normally those which don’t visit our country that often.
“Also, we had a really good series in Zimbabwe, and so everyone was pretty motivated to do well in this series as well. We had never won a series against Australia, and so this was our chance. Hence, we wanted to deliver well as a unit, which is what happened,” Shakib Al Hasan told the media.
Regarded as one of the finest all-rounders in the game, Shakib Al Hasan had a brilliant series. He amassed 114 runs in the series and claimed seven wickets at an economy rate of under 6.5.
With 102 wickets from 84 T20Is, he’s now only the second cricketer to bag over 100 wickets in the format after Lasith Malinga.
Top wicket-takers in T20Is
Speaking about entering the 100-wicket club in T20Is, the 34-year-old added:
“Any such achievement obviously feels good. This kind of personal achievement inspires you to do well for your side. I am really happy, and I feel I will be able to contribute for many more days and would be striving for that.”
Unfair to judge batters for failing in this series: Shakib Al Hasan
In a low-scoring series, Shakib Al Hasan opined that batters shouldn’t be judged harshly for failing in those conditions. On slow pitches that assisted turn, the series saw a batting average of 14.7 and a scoring rate of 6.53.
“We could have perhaps scored 10 or 15 more runs in every match since we were in situations where doing it was possible. But the wickets were so difficult [to bat on] that it was always tough for a new batsman [to play]. So it would be unfair to judge someone on the basis of just one series because the conditions were really tough for the batsmen,” said Shakib Al Hasan, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.
Australia have now lost five T20I series in a row. Their last series win came in South Africa in February 2020. Meanwhile, Bangladesh will play New Zealand in a five-T20I series at home next month.
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