One of the new kids on the block, Sabbir Rahman, turned out to be the hero in the lone one-day practice match between Bangladesh Cricket Board XI and Pakistan in Fatullah yesterday.
The match was merely a warm-up and the result hardly mattered to the visitors but the way the home side approached their chase, led by Sabbir, gave the whole affair a different look.
At a packed Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, BCB XI, in pursuit of a challenging 269, were in trouble losing their first four wickets for 81 runs. The failure of the top-order jeopardised the chase but Sabbir had other ideas as his cool 99-ball 123 guided the hosts to a one-wicket win with seven deliveries remaining.
Sabbir’s knock entertained the weekday Fatullah crowd a great deal as his seven boundaries and eight huge sixes took the game away from the opposition. Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez even went on term Sabbir’s knock as “one of the best” he has ever seen.
A modest Sabbir though barely reveled in his heroics and instead dedicated his brilliant hundred to his teammates.
“Firstly, I want to dedicate this hundred to my team. Even a single run is big for me if it helps my team. Although it is just a practice match, my hundred came against an international side. I enjoyed myself out there. I hope I will be able do more of this in the coming days,” Sabbir told the media after the game yesterday.
The 23-year old believes the pressure will now be on Pakistan ahead of the first of three ODIs tomorrow.
“If you ask from my personal experience, I personally break down a little when we are in an away tour and we lose a practice game. I am sure they will also be concerned after the defeat. The loss should create a negative impact on the eve of the first game. We should make use of it,” Sabbir explained.
Sabbir, humble as ever, did not forget to praise the opposition bowlers.
“They are a very good bowling side. It just might have been that I batted well today (yesterday). They dropped me behind the stumps and I made sure of utilising it. But, they bowled really well,” he said.