Asia Cup 2018- Rashid Khan One of the Best in the World But Not Unplayable Says Mahmudullah

Bangladesh middle-order batsman Mahmudullah stated that he relishes the opportunity of being one of the most dependable batsmen for Bangladesh, especially in the limited overs team. He said that it helps get the best out of him. Mahmudullah has been instrumental in scripting sensational turnarounds for Bangladesh. His knock against New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy is still regarded one of the very best in Bangladesh cricket history.

However, he wasn’t at his best of touches in the tournament. He finally rose to the occasion and struck a match-winning 74 of 81 deliveries against Afghanistan in the Super 4 clash. The Bangla Tigers were struggling at 87/5 at one stage. From there on it was Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah who shared a 128 runs stand in order to revive Bangladesh’s innings.

“Yes, I do [enjoy being the crisis man]. The pressure gives me the opportunity to get into my rhythm and give back to my team as well,” Mahmudullah said. “Pressure will always be there and we just need to find out ways to handle it, that’s all,” he added.

Mahmudullah said that the plan was to not lose any wickets and play out the majority of the overs from Rashid Khan. He played him quite sensibly, to begin with. Their plan was to play out Rashid. Mahmudullah took the singles to begin his knock and when he settled when he smashed Rashid for a couple of sixes. Mahmudullah has stated that Rashid Khan is one of the finest limited overs bowler and hence his plan was to play him out.

Mahmudullah calls Rashid Khan as one of the best-limited overs bowlers

“I didn’t work too much [on his variations]. We played three times in four days, so there wasn’t much time to think. I was just playing with an empty mind. We all know that Rashid Khan is one of the best strike bowlers around the world. That does not mean however that he is unplayable,” said Mahmudullah.

“Maybe we couldn’t apply ourselves against him the way we wanted. In our [Mahmudullah and Imrul Kayes’s 128-run sixth-wicket] partnership, our plan was to not give Rashid our wicket. We dug deep and we saw it through until the end.” Mahmudullah was ready to accept the fact that the final over bowled by Mustafizur Rahman was of much greater significance.

“I give special credit to Mustafizur because he was struggling with a hamstring problem. Would say Mustafizur’s last over [was more important]. Because although our partnership was important, defending eight off six balls is not that easy,” he concluded.