Tigers all-rounder Ariful Haque made it to the national team backed by his T20 performance in the Bangladesh Premier League 2017.
The right-handed batsman made his international debut during the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home in January this year and till date has played three T20Is for the Tigers.
However, Ariful, who is yet to make his Bangladesh debut in Test matches and ODIs, wants to remove his tag of a T20I specialist.
With the tour of the West Indies coming up next month, Ariful informed that he is working hard in order to prepare himself for the Tests and ODIs, provided he is given the opportunity.
Snaps of Bangladesh preliminary squad practice session today at NCA-SBNCS. pic.twitter.com/vPMdCpustN
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) June 12, 2018
Ariful has played 74 first-class matches, maintaining an average of 32.01 with the bat. While with the ball, the right-arm seamer has bagged 98 wickets at an economy rate of 3.34.
“I want to play all the formats. At the moment, I’m practising with the red ball. When I’ll start practising with the white ball, it will be for the ODIs and T20Is. In the West Indies, we’re going to play Tests. I don’t think it will be a tough series. We just need to make a strong comeback and forget the Afghanistan series. That way, we will take the pressure off from us and be confident on the field,” said Ariful to the media Tuesday at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
The 25-year old was on strike when the Tigers required four runs off the last ball in the third and final T20I against the Afghans at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, India earlier this month.
Trailing 2-0, Bangladesh were targeting a consolation win.
Bangladesh lost the third T20I against Afghanistan by 1 run. #BANvAFG pic.twitter.com/lj7KeryQAF
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) June 7, 2018
The Khulna Titans cricketer swung the willow hard and were it not for a brilliant effort by Shafiqullah near the boundary, Bangladesh would have won the game.
As it were, the Tigers couldn’t avoid the humiliating whitewash.
“To be honest, I had the belief that I could win the match. I faced three balls in the game and the last ball was ‘do-or-die’ where I had to hit a four or a six to win the match. (Mahmudullah) Riyad bhai told me to just see the ball and strike it, and that it was a great opportunity for me to make a name for myself. But it was not in my fate,” said Ariful.
“I think confidence in international cricket is very important. With confidence, you will be able to achieve many things. This confidence will grow when you play more games, and you will get to test if you are fit for international matches or not,” he added.
