Rangpur get it right, Shakib does not

At the business end of the Bangladesh Premier League, decisions did not pay off for Shakib Al Hasan while young Shamim Hossain made the most of the opportunity handed to him as Rangpur Riders ensured second qualifier in expense of Shakib's Barishal, who departed from the tournament in the eliminator on Sunday.

Shamim's door opened with Rahmanullah Gurbaz leaving the BPL and he did not disappoint after Barishal had put on 170 for three. His fast bat-speed came to the fore, with some lovely pickup shots over square-leg against Dwaine Pretorius.

A 51-ball 71, laced with four fours and four sixes, signalled an ability behind just being able to hit the ball hard. He took on the likes of Shakib and Mehedi Hasan Miraz early on and that acceleration was vital as he kept the scoreboard ticking to help his side's cause, taking the game deep. Rangpur, in the end, won by just four wickets but the innings was enough to seal victory. Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, Barishal coach and a mentor to many of the national team stars, praised the effort. Shamim had been out of the national team contention after a poor outing at the T20 World Cup in UAE and Fahim felt he needed this opportunity to show a different side.

"Unfortunately, he [Shamim] doesn't get to bat at the top-order and usually where he bats, he has to bat in a one-dimensional manner and keep hitting. When he gets the opportunity to play this kind of innings, he will be able to organise himself better and I am very hopeful about him," Fahim said at the post-match presser.

"I always rate him highly not because of his ability to play shots or his aggressive batting, but for his mentality. He has the mentality required in this format," the Barishal coach said.

"Actually, I am a number seven or eight batter and whenever I come on it's not easy to play. When I come on, I try to finish the game which isn't easy," Shamim said about whether there were regrets over not being able to bat through the innings.

Rangpur Riders skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan shakes hands with Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan following the Eliminator earlier in the day. Photo: FIROZ AHMED

Rangpur's gamble with Shamim worked but Shakib's gamble in not bringing himself at the top-order was a surprise and ultimately Barishal's first innings total fell short of what it might have been.

Shakib has been the most fearsome batter in this tournament, scoring 375 runs at an average of over 41 and an immense strike-rate of 174.41. After the platform laid out by Mehedi's 48-ball 69, Shakib sent on Karim Janat in the 14th over and Bhanuka Rajapakse in the 16th over following Mehedi's dismissal. The last seven overs produced just 56 runs and so from 114 for 1, Barishal ended up with just 170 for three.

"Maybe with such a good platform, he felt that if Rajapaksa and Janat can go ahead of him and play freely, no matter how much they score, if they score at a good rate, then it will be handy for the side. But I don't think the plan worked," Fahim said on his side coming up short, adding that they should have gotten at least 190.

When asked whether Shakib should have come out and used that platform himself, Fahim agreed. "I think so. Given the way that Shakib had been batting on this wicket and in such scenarios, I don't think there was a better option than Shakib."

"Maybe that's what Shakib will realise now but whatever happened has happened. It's a lesson and even in bowling, we tried to depend on others but later we saw that our local bowlers got us back in the game," Fahim concluded.