Youngster Sabbir Rahman struck a whirlwind half-century yesterday to lead Bangladesh to a convincing seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the lone Twenty20 international in Mirpur but barely basked in his glory, saying the team’s achievement is important than anything else.
Sabbir smashed 51, his maiden T20 fifty, off just 31 balls as Bangladesh chased down the modest target of 142 with seven wickets and 22 balls remaining.
“The fact that the team won the game is more important to me. I have said it many times that even one run is important to me if that run helps the team win. Even a century does not count if the team lose. I always try to play for Bangladesh, for the team,” Sabbir told the media after the game.
“I always intend to give my best for whichever team I play. Overall, I am happy with my performance because the team have been able to continue the winning streak,” he said.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza on the other hand credited the bowlers for restricting the opposition to 141/5.
“I have always said a win becomes easy if the bowlers do their job well, let it be T20, ODI or Test. I always believe cricket is a bowler’s game and I believe it happened today (yesterday),” said Mashrafe to the media in the post-match press conference.
The 31-year old also praised the team for maintaining their unbeaten record in the ongoing bilateral series.
“I cannot ask anything more from my team. We played well in all the matches and won. Yes, we do have room for improvement and there are parts that need to be looked at. There will be small glitches every now and then but we will have to try to minimise those. The more we do it, the more chances we have of winning matches,” he said.