What is the secret to playing well for so many years?
My secret is to train every day. I maintain a good diet plus I enjoy my cricket and I think if you enjoy your profession it helps you a lot. Plus, I get a lot of support wherever I go to play.
What is your personal target?
If I can play the whole tournament then of course the plan is to score a lot of runs - runs which can help the team. I think now the plan is to focus on which game comes and gain some confidence and score runs for team and take wickets, that’s the only thing on my mind.
How long will you play?
It’s just always about thinking positive and most importantly if you enjoy your cricket, keep playing it. It’s not about you performing. It’s about you sharing your experiences, and you giving confidence to youngsters and the atmosphere in the dressing room. That comes from our senior players who have been playing and performing. It’s very important and it’s not just performing or playing for the country, a lot depends on a senior player to groom the youngsters. I still think the captain needs me to field in the point region and that matters most for me. The day the captain thinks of hiding me in the field, I will quit cricket. Till now, the goal is to the play 2019 World Cup. After that, 50 over cricket will be over. As for T20Is, I want to play till the 2020 World T20I. Let’s see how it goes.
@ComillaV captain @stevesmith49 will by flying back to Australia with an elbow injury a Comilla team source confirmed through a press release.https://t.co/yCViPfkiVM#COMILLA #VICTORIANS #COMILLAVICTORIANS #STEVESMITH #SMITH #STEVE #SMUDGE #CV #AUSTRALIACRICKET #AUSTRALIA #CA
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) January 10, 2019
Is Misbah-ul-Haq an inspiration?
It’s an inspiration you get when you see players play till 41-42. But in Misbah bhai’s case he started playing late and I would say he can still play cricket at any level. He is still fit enough. He and Younis (Khan) bhai and we have seen Lala (Shahid Afridi) also like training around, hitting sixes, taking wickets. So I think a lot depends on yourself. As long as you enjoy the game and are grooming youngsters and you keep a nice atmosphere in the dressing room, I think you should keep playing.
What’s your thought on local players in BPL?
Bangladesh’s Cricket Board’s responsibility is to make opportunities for the youngsters. In my opinion I have seen a lot of good cricketers and they have been doing well for the team. If I take one or two names that is unfair to these cricketers who all are good and very talented. I think in your country when cricketers struggle you think he isn’t a good cricketer and can’t do well for the country. The goal is to back him and not criticise him. We have this element in the subcontinent where we can create something negative, especially from the media and start criticising, and I think criticising is basically destroying your own country. You all love “Masala”, and everyone wants to see “Masala” news. I think somewhere you need to start backing your players also.
