Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan acknowledged that although they aimed to play good cricket throughout the series against world champion England however never dreamed of clean sweeping them.
‘We didn’t dream of it, but we also didn’t put ourselves pressure before the series. We didn’t talk about winning games but just wanted to play good cricket,’ said Shakib in Mirpur after the match.
‘We tried to contribute with the bat in all three games. I think we fielded unbelievably well too, especially in T20s where two or four runs make a big difference. It was a huge tick mark,’ he added.
The southpaw also admitted that Mustafizur Rahman’s over in the death in the third and final Twenty20 was the turning point, as it eventually guided them to clean sweep the visitors in the three Twenty20 internationals for the first time at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
England, who looked close to the win at one point with David Malan and Jos Buttler adding 95 runs in the second wicket stand, were dismissed inside the two consecutive deliveries of Mustafizur in the 14th over.
His first delivery of the over impelled the set Malan to give a catch to Liton Das behind the stumps for 53 off 47 balls, while the next ball suffered Buttler to be run-out for a 31-ball 40 that fueled the hosts to restrict the visitors to 142-6, pursuing 158-2.
This was Bangladesh’s first ever 3-0 win over the mighty England in any format of cricket as well.
‘I think the turning point of the match was that over. They lost both their set batters in successive balls. It proved to be decisive,’ said Shakib after the match in Mirpur.
It is understood that, given Bangladesh’s relentless debacle in the T20Is, the Tigers skipper has cited the same.
However, to overcome the woes and also to form a fresh side ahead of the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Bangladesh team management has opted for a few fresh faces like Towhid Hridoy, Tanvir Islam, and Rony Talukdar, who proved their worth in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League.
The ace all-rounder admitted that their inclusion in the side helped them vastly to earn the formidable success in the shortest format of cricket that they never achieved against the three Lions.
‘Everyone in this team performed in this year’s BPL. It wasn’t too long ago before the England tour. The top five-six batters in this series were also the top run-getters in BPL. It is the same for the highest wicket-takers. The confidence did carry over, so I think that really helped us.’
