Nazmul lauds England experience
Although four of the seven matches on the Bangladesh Cricket Board High Performance (HP) team's tour to the UK were washed out, 19-year-old Nazmul Hossain Shanto shone brightly with the bat and smashed consecutive centuries, including an unbeaten 144-run knock which helped the visitors chase down 295 with six wickets to spare against Nottinghamshire Second XI.
The HP team won two matches before losing the seventh and final match of the tour against Warwickshire Second XI by a huge margin of 170. However, Nazmul once again showed his talent in that game with a fifty.
According to the left-hander it was a great experience to play in difficult conditions with swing and bounce while also adapting to the chilly English weather.
"I think the experience in England helped me as there was swing and bounce in the pitch and I tried to adjust to the conditions and bat accordingly. I enjoyed all the innings I played and tried to play my natural game," the HP team skipper told reporters after returning from England yesterday.
The cricketer from Rajshahi -- who has played just a solitary Test match, against New Zealand earlier this year -- hoped that the board would arrange more tours to help younger cricketers adapt to foreign conditions so that they would gain confidence for the future.
Rated as a future prospect for the Tigers, Nazmul will join Rajshahi Division in the second round of the ongoing National Cricket League (NCL) and the youngster was also picked by Khulna Titans for the upcoming 5th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. However, he stated that he was only focusing on the first class competition for the moment.
BANGLADESH U-19S AIM FOR AFGHAN WHITEWASH
Bangladesh's youngsters will have a chance to gain experience as the Afghanistan Under-19 team will arrive in Dhaka on September 25 for a five-match youth ODI series. The first of those matches will be played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on September 28 while the last game will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on October 7.
Skipper Saif Hasan informed that his side were well-prepared and said they were hoping for a whitewash but added that they were aware of the threat the Afghani youths posed.
"We have been practising for quite some time now and a few of us were playing in the NCL. Overall we had good practice ahead of the series. As captain I would like to win the series and look to whitewash them. However we know Afghanistan are a good unit and we have to play our best to beat them," Saif told reporters before his team departed for Sylhet yesterday.
The young left-hander is in fine fettle after having scored an unbeaten century in the first round of the NCL for Barisal against Dhaka Division before the game was abandoned due to rain.
Bangladesh will participate in the Under-19 Asia Cup in Malaysia later this year ahead of the upcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand next year and according to Saif his side were working on improving step by step before the mega-event.