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We don’t want to change our ‘aggressive’ approach: Shakib


By BSS
Published : 01 Apr 2023 09:53 PM

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan refused to give up their aggressive approach despite it backfired, resulting in their seven-wicket defeat to Ireland in the third and final T20 on Friday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

The defeat denied Bangladesh a second consecutive T20 series sweep but Shakib was unfazed by it, saying that there is a way that they could compromise with their current approach.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 124 in 19.2 overs, paying the price of their aggressive cricket and Ireland rode on captain Paul Stirling’s 41 ball-77 gunned it down in just 14 overs.

“We didn’t bat well, kept on losing wickets. But that happens with the way we want to play our cricket,” Shakib said on Friday after losing the game.

“Don’t want to change our approach. If we want to be a very good team, that’s the way we have to play. Might fail in some games. We’ll be playing Test match in few days time, travel to Dhaka, and see what we can do. We played very well after the England series. Today wasn’t our day but credit to Ireland,” he added.

Bangladesh won the first game by 22 runs through DLS method and second game by 77 runs. On both occasions, they put up 200 plus scores despite full overs match were not possible due to rain.

In third game, they opted to bat first and tried to put the bowlers on sword from the words go but the strategy didn’t work. Paul Stirling however credited their bowlers to curb the aggression of the Bangladeshi batters.

“This was set up by the bowlers. All five bowlers deserve this award. Full credit to them. To come back from what we’ve been through in the last two weeks,” Stirling said after playing the match-winning knock.

“We showed the character. We’ll only improve the more we play. Feel like we got better as the tour went on. It’s been a few years since we last played a Test. Everyone’s excited.”

Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed however was adjudged man of the match for his eight wickets in the matches.

He expected that the Bangladeshi fast bowling group will rule the world in future.

“I keep belief in myself. It doesn’t matter if the wicket is flat or not. I was backing my strengths. End of the day I bowled well and helped the team. We’ve been working very hard. From there we’re getting our belief. We’ll become the best group of fast bowlers in the world hopefully.”