Mahmud wants to take 500 wickets in international cricket

Young pacer Hasan Mahmud has been terrific in death-overs bowling as the right-arm seamer turned the tide in favour of Bangladesh in the first T20I against England. 

The 23-year-old displayed some brilliant death-overs bowling, conceding just five runs in his final two overs, and picked up two crucial wickets in his spell, including that of England skipper Jos Buttler. 

The visitors were unable to flourish despite a flying start and managed to post only 156 for six, with Mahmud returning figures of two for 26. England eventually went on to face their first defeat in the format against Bangladesh. 

The cricketer from Laxmipur said that he dreams of picking up 500 wickets for Bangladesh by the end of his international career. 

"My thinking is that I need to focus ball by ball. If I am able to bowl one dot ball, my focus shifts to the next one. Even if I get hit for a boundary, I try to stick to my strength which I enjoy as well. I like to show my character in tough times and take the challenge. Obviously, I would like to have 500 wickets beside my name when I finish my career," Hasan told reporters ahead of tomorrow's second T20I in Mirpur. 

According to the pacer, the sporting pitches during the Bangladesh Premier League helped the bowlers take the challenge and helped him work on his bowling. 

"I think the pitches were good during the BPL and the bowlers had to face challenges and we had to struggle whenever we had to defend. I think we will be able to learn how to bowl on such pitches against good batters and we will try to improve," he said.  

The pacer also believes that Bangladesh will be able to win the T20 series since they have momentum after winning the first game.