Bangladesh T20I captain for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, Nurul Hasan Sohan emphasized on playing fearless cricket and play as a team.
BCB [Bangladesh Cricket Board] following a meeting with T20I captain Mahmudullah in Dhaka on Friday announced that the cricketer along with wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim will be rested from the upcoming three-match T20I series on tour of Zimbabwe.
Though BCB stated that the national team management has come to the decision to try and test a young team against lower ranked Zimbabwe, it is widely established that the board is mulling not involving Mahmudullah and Mushfiq at all here onwards in T20I.
The team will be led by Nurul in Zimbabwe as part of stop-gap arrangement and afterwards the charge will be handed over to ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan.
Speaking to reporters at the BCB headquarters at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday, Nurul said he has said that he has learnt a lot from Mahmudullah, the man he replaced as the captain for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.
“I have played under Mahmudullah bhai's captaincy. I've played under others' captaincy too. I've learnt from all of them but everyone is different. I hope I can work with whatever I have learnt from them,” said Nurul.
Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul aims to carry the work that has been done by the seniors in Shakib, Mahmudullah, Muhfiqur and Tamim Iqbal. The occasion is rare for Bangladesh team where it will without Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur, Tamim and Shakib.
“The team culture improved a lot in the last two years. The seniors have taken our cricket to a level. The contribution of the seniors cannot be explained in one or two words. Our job will be to maintain that position," said Nurul.
Sohan, known for his aggressive batting approach down the order, doesn't often get the opportunity to play a long innings. Having admitted that there aren't enough power hitters in the squad, Shohan feels a short innings from him, in this format specially, can make a difference.
"Impact is more important than number of runs scored, in the position I bat in. If I can score an impactful 15-20 runs, that can be good enough if it leads to team's victory. We cannot afford to worry about options or reserves. We didn't have too many options. Most of the players that are in the squad have been playing for at least two years,” said Nurul.
“The most important thing is playing fearless cricket. When you play fearless cricket, options will emerge. That will be my aim in this series,” the 28-year-old added.
Bangladesh team for the tour of Zimbabwe is scheduled to leave Dhaka on early Wednesday.
The series will start with the three T20Is scheduled to be played on July 30, 31 and August 2 and will be followed by the ODIs on August 5, 7 and 10 respectively. All the matches will be held at Harare Sports Club.
