'Will try to carry form into Tests'
Imrul Kayes did not play a match during the two-Test series in West Indies in July this year. The 31-year-old left-hander, who played his last Test against Sri Lanka in Mirpur in February this year, failed to score even a fifty in his last 16 innings since making 78 against England in October 2016 in Mirpur. Since making his Test debut against South Africa in November 2008, the southpaw has played 34 Tests and has an average of 26.23 -- all forlorn stats indeed.
However, the batsman has reason to be confident when the Tigers take on Zimbabwe in the first Test at the Sylhet International Stadium from November 3 as he has come here on the back of a phenomenal run-spree in the three-match ODI series against the same opponents.
Imrul also pointed to that background while talking to reporters yesterday.
"The format is different. But when you are among the runs, it gives you enough confidence regardless of whether you scored in ODIs, Tests or T20Is. The main thing is confidence and I will try to carry my ODI form into the Test series," said Imrul, who hit two centuries and a 90 in the ODI series.
"It is easy to say but hard to do. I haven't played well in Test for long, but have done well before. Everyone goes through bad times but it's best not to think about that," he added.
The left-handed opener said that people hardly take notice of an innings unless it is a century.
"I have had some good scores but all finished in the 50s, 60s or 70s. If you look back at 2010, I scored around a thousand runs [867 runs in ODIs], but it was not considered big because hundreds were missing. Now, as I have got centuries, everyone is considering it big. But I know how to play big knocks and now I am trying to capitalise on good starts," he said.
The soft-spoken cricketer also added that he was well aware of both sides of the coin, which is why he was not thinking too much about the praise he has been receiving after the ODIs.
"No doubt you feel good when you are praised but I know the criticism will start if I fail to perform. So it's better to focus on my performance. I need to do my job," he said.
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