Shakib: Celebrate win, not controversy

Ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has urged everyone associated with Bangladesh cricket to celebrate the sensational two-wicket win over Sri Lanka, rather than over-emphasising on the ugly scenes which marred the final stage of the game. The game going into the last over with Bangladesh needing another 12 runs chasing 170, had heated up following the second delivery of the Isuru Udana over. The Bangladesh players were upset that the on-field umpires had not called the delivery illegal, despite it being the second consecutive delivery going over lower-order batsman Mustafizur Rahman’s shoulder. This was followed by a brawl between Bangladesh substitute fielder Nurul Hasan and Sri Lanka stand-in captain Thisara Perera, which got players of both the sides involved in a tussle. Feeling unjustified at a crucial point of the game, Shakib standing at the boundary rope had gestured the two Bangladesh batsmen Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain to walk off – only to see team manager Khaled Mahmud intervene.

Sensational finish from Mahmudullah. Just another reason why you never walk off. Hope the drama doesn't mask a top effort from Mahmudullah

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 16, 2018

When Mahmudullah took the winning runs with a six over backward square-leg in the fifth and penultimate ball of the over, the Tigers had rushed into the middle to join in the celebrations. Shakib himself celebrated wildly by taking off his shirt and waving it – a scene similar to former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s celebration at Lord's in 2002. And to finish it all off – there was also an exchange between Sri Lanka opener Kusal Mendis and Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman when the players of the two sides met to shake hands after the game. The energy of the events was not limited only among the players of the two sides but also the supporters, who took onto different social media platforms to express their emotions immediately after the nail-biting game. “I wasn’t calling (the batsmen) back. I was telling them to play. You can describe it (the movement of my hands) both ways. It depends on how you see it. I think it is important to focus on this great match we had. We are talking about what happened in that one over. It is better to talk about the rest of the match, which to me is appropriate,” said Shakib to the media at R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo Friday.

WHAT A MATCH! WHAT DRAMA! Shakib al Hasan was asking his team to walk off the pitch just a few balls before, but Mahmudullah stays back and finishes with a six! And there is still drama... players going at each other.#SLvBAN pic.twitter.com/eDQ3axIl12

— The Field (@thefield_in) March 16, 2018

“Many things happened that shouldn’t have happened. I need to remain calm. I was overjoyed. Excitement was there. I must know how to react next time. I will be careful,” the Bangladesh skipper added. Shakib also termed this win as extremely special. “My memory is not that sharp to remember so many years of cricket. It was one of the most exciting matches for Bangladesh. I thought it was terrific the way we kept our nerve. Sri Lanka batted really well after they lost five early wickets. Credit goes to Kusal [Perera] and Thisara, the way they batted. We tried everything, but they came up with their plans. We had to bat really well in a pressure game. There was so much nerve around the team; the way Mahmudullah played, it was terrific. Tamim [Iqbal] was brilliant too but you cannot take anything away from Mahmudullah in this game. I have never seen a Bangladesh batsman hit the ball so well in limited-overs cricket,” said Shakib. Bangladesh with the win have set up a final date against India in the Nidahas T20I tri-nation series Sunday.