Taunton: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan said that he is happy to see no one panicked in the dressing room despite Windies set 322 runs mammoth target for them on Monday here at County Ground.
Shakib, the hero of Bangladesh's victory, played a dazzling 124 runs not out innings to power his team to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the Windies in order to keep their semifinal hope alive in the ongoing World Cup.
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The all-rounder also claimed two wickets giving away 54 runs. While chasing 322 runs target Shakib was ably supported by Liton Das who played destructive 94 runs knock to take Bangladesh home in 41.3 overs.
‘’It always feels good to contribute to the team and I really enjoyed the way we have played today,’’ said Shakib.
‘’It was a professional performance and when they scored 321 runs, no one in the dressing room panicked for a bit,’’ he said.
‘’It was a very good sign as it shows that we had the belief that we can chase this target,’’ he said.
The southpaw also said that he is happy that his hard work is being paid off in the ongoing World Cup. At the same time, he urged his team not be complacent with this win as they still have a long way to go.
When he was asked why he was so determined to prove himself in the biggest cricket extravaganza, Shakib replied diplomatically.
‘’I wanted to do a little bit better. I wanted to improve myself in my point of view. Alhamdulillah it has been working so far but we are just in the middle stage of the tournament, I will try to finish the tournament in the same way,’’ said Shakib.
‘’It feels good when I contribute like this, especially when I contribute in my team's win it feels even better. I will try to contribute like this for the team when I will contribute like this those things [ most runs & wickets ] will go there automatically. so I am not thinking about those things right now, my responsibility is to contribute to the team as much as I can,’’ he added.
He also admitted that though they still have a chance to make a cut in the semifinal it will be difficult for them to progress beyond the round robin league unless they keep performing in the same vein.
‘’It’s very difficult still now[ to reach the semifinal],’’ said Shakib.
‘’We have to win at least three more matches. of course, we will try our best, this win will give us lots of confidence but having said that the remaining four teams are very good and capable of doing great on their day,’’ he said.
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‘’We will have to play our best cricket if we want to do well against them. When we will contribute as a team only then we will have the opportunity to do something good. This is a thing that we have been trying to do in every game,’’ he said.
‘’It happens in some matches, some matches it doesn't. in bowling, everyone contributed today and it helped us a lot as the wicket was good and everybody had the confidence that we will win this match, that really helped us,’’ he added.
