Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain feels that their maiden T20I win over England could be a new start for them in the shorter format.
Bangladesh brought current world champions England down to earth by earning a six-wicket win in the three-match series opener at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. It was their 50th T20I win but more importantly it was a pretty start to a new chapter under the guidance of newly appointed head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Hathurusingha turned Bangladesh’s ODI squad from also-rans to a force to reckon with during his first stint and that began with their win over England in the ICC World Cup in 2015. Following that win, they beat India and South Africa in their own backyard to announce their arrival in the 50-over format and with time developed into a challenging ODI side in the international cricket arena.
Many inside the cricketing fraternity feel that the win over England in the World Cup, also on March 9 coincidentally, gave the team much needed self belief that drove them to be in the league among the best. Najmul feels it can be the same case with their maiden T20I win over England.
“They are one of the best teams in the world, so the win will give us a lot of confidence. We will slowly build our team, like the ODI team has been doing well,” Najmul told reporters after the T20I series opener at ZACS on Thursday.
“Winning the first match will give us a lot of confidence, but we must start afresh in the second game. There will be new plans but the motivation and thinking will change after this game. We should win the series from this position. We have to play well on that particular day,” he added.
Bangladesh restricted England to 156-6 in their stipulated 20 overs and later beat them by six wickets as they reached 158-4 in 18 overs. Najmul made 51 off 30 balls with eight fours to lay the platform for the win while Shakib Al Hasan made unbeaten 34 runs to complete the required job.
