Mahmudullah targets the off side during the Asia Cup ODI match against Afghanistan. -Cricinfo
Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah said that he is happy to play the role of crisis man as pressure helps him to give his best shot in the middle.
Mahmudullah had bailed out Tigers on quite a few occasions but certainly did not managed to have the best of time in the middle in the ongoing Asia Cup. It seemed he preserved his energy to deliver when it was required the most as a loss against Afghanistan would eventually forced the Tigers to end their Asia Cup campaign.
With Tigers struggling at 87-5, Mahmudullah along with Imrul Kayes scripted a rescue act by adding 128 runs for the sixth wicket stand that is believed to be the turning point of the game.
Mahmudullah, who struck his 20 th ODI half-century, struck 74 runs off 81 balls but most importantly played some shots after settling in to take the momentum away from the Afghans. He followed his heroics with the willow by removing Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad and later taking fine catch to dismiss Asghar Afghan.
When asked whether he finds it easy to handle pressure in the crunch situation after his match winning knock against Afghanistan, the right-handed batsman validated it with a broad smile. "The pressure gives me the opportunity to get into my rhythm and give back to my team as well,'' Mahmudullah told reporters at the press conference.
''Pressure will always be there and we just need to find out ways to handle it, that's all,'' he said adding that he enjoys being known as the crisis man. "Yes, I do [enjoy being the crisis man]," he concluded. Mahmudullah said that he was well aware of the threat that Rashid Khan possessed and planned to make sure that they don't gift him [Rashid] with any wickets without being totally bogged down.
Mahmudulllah focused only on singles against the leg-spinner initially and when he had settled down and Rashid came back to bowl in the death overs, hit him for two sixes over square leg that indicated he picked up the googly with ease and comfort. "We all know that Rashid Khan is one of the 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 till the end,'' he said adding that he did not take any extra lesson for the Afghanistan mystery man.
"I didn't do 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,'' he concluded. Mahmudullah said that he would rate the last over of Mustafiz when he defended eight runs above everything in the perspective of changing the fortune of the game.
"I give special credit to Mustafizur because he was struggling with a hamstring problem,'' said Mahmudullah. "I 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.
Latest News