Afghanistan bowling coach Hamid Hasan vowed to continue their winning streak when they face their Bangladesh counterparts in the third and final one-day international at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Tuesday.
The tourists are 2-0 up in the three ODI series after they scripted a 17-run win in D/L in the first game, followed by the next by a commanding 142-run victory to secure their maiden series in a 50-over game against the hosts.
‘Definitely. Every team wants to continue their winning momentum. The way we started, In sha Allah, hopefully, we win again tomorrow,’ said Hamid on Monday in Chattogram.
Given Bangladesh’s glorifying track record in one-day internationals both at home and abroad, which put them in the third position in the ICC Super League points table, the 36-year-old former Afghan pacer acknowledged that beating the hosts in this format of cricket is not easy.
However, he further lauded his charges greatly, as they could do the toughest job beating the home side in their much-liked format in their own backyard.
‘Beating Bangladesh in Bangladesh is not easy. Alhamdulillah, boys did really well in all three departments. Altogether, it was a team effort that’s why we got a very good result.’
And the gleaming performances of the visitors provided a firm belief to their coach to achieve a rare success in the approaching ICC World Cup scheduled to be held in India on October 5.
‘This time we think bigger, hoping for a very good result given the way the team is performing. The world is aware of Afghanistan’.
‘They are fighting their best, they are giving their best. In sha Allah, we get more hope from these players. We have very good batters. This world cup will be good for Afghanistan. Maybe we can win a few matches with a good result.’
He further conveyed his outmost ecstasy thanks to the brilliant displays from their pace bowling unit.
With Fazalhaq Farooqi striking early in both games and his fellow teammate Azmatuallh Omarzai pressing the hosts awfully, Bangladesh’s batting rhythm was mistuned wholly.
In the opening game, the former had Bangladesh’s veteran opener for 13, while the latter dismissed Towhid for 51, which eventually cost the hosts to a large scale as they failed to go beyond the threshold of 170.
Fazalhaq continued his ruinous blow in the next tie as well, that aided them to all-out Bangladesh for 189 in 43.2 overs, to seal the first ODI series against the side.
‘Definitely [proud], every coach and every team should be proud of the way he bowled (Farooqi) in the two games.’
‘He struggled against Sri Lanka because he hasn’t played much ODI cricket. But we had a wonderful training camp at Abu Dhabi and he was very well prepared. All the players, including Fazal. I’m happy that he’s back and he’s getting his proper rhythm.’
