The second day of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) belonged to Shamsur Rahman who smashed a brilliant double hundred for Walton Central Zone and remained unbeaten at the close with 229 runs behind him and the right hander said yesterday that he will be looking to score his 250 as the resumes today at the BKSP.
Islami Bank East Zone’s first innings finished early in the day as they were bowled out for 303. Shamsur opened Central Zone’s innings along with national discard Shahriar Nafees, who was dismissed after scoring 23 runs.
Shamsur, who had a wonderful outing in the last ODI series against New Zealand where the right hander just missed his hundred, showed his class and was in in no mood to throw his wicket as the right hander played his natural game and took the attack to the opposition.
“I was positive right from the start and looking to score runs whenever I got the opportunity and luckily, I got the bad deliveries quite often,” said Shamsur.
With wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end, it was a one-man show from Shamsur. He reached his hundred from just 86 balls. “We lost a few wickets quickly but I remained focused on my game and was looking to smash the bad balls, no matter what was happening at the other end which I think proved well for me,” he explained.
Shamsur shared a 155-run partnership with wicket keeper batsman Nurul Hasan, who was eventually dismissed by Alok Kapali for 94.
“Sohan (Nurul Hasan) gave me good support after we lost a few wickets and I think he was unlucky to miss a century but he played very well,” said Shamsur.
The 25-year old continued to be attacking and reached his double hundred off 233 balls. He finished the day unbeaten on 229, having struck 24 fours and seven sixes, to take Central Zone to 429/6 – 126 runs ahead.
“I always wanted to score big runs, especially in the longer format of the game and today (yesterday) was my day. I am very happy to get this double hundred,” said Shamsur.
Shamsur’s innings currently stands as the fourth highest individual first class score by a Bangladeshi behind Raqibul Hasan’s 313, Marshal Ayub’s 289 and Mohammed Ashraful’s 263. However, he said he was not thinking about breaking that record but was instead focusing on reaching 250, “Honestly I am not thinking about such things at the moment. All I want is to score my 250 tomorrow (today) and after that, it will all depend on the situation. But definitely it will be a big boost for me if I manage to score my triple hundred, inshaallah.”
Shamsur, who made his ODI debut and did quite well both in the T20’s and ODIs, is now looking to find a place in the Test side. “My job is to score runs and play for my country in every format of the game, but rest is up to the selectors. Definitely I am looking forward to make my Test debut and I am preparing myself for that, but as I said it will depend on the selectors.”
