All posts by h716a5.icu

Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the remainder of Mumbai Indians’ Champions League Twenty20 campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2014Quick bowler Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the remainder of Mumbai Indians’ Champions League Twenty20 campaign, after he sustained an injury to his right shoulder during the qualifier against Lahore Lions in Raipur.Praveen bowled just three overs in that game and conceded 15 runs, as Mumbai went on to lose by six wickets. In the team’s second game, against Southern Express, Praveen was left out, with legspinner Shreyas Gopal taking his place.Praveen was signed by Mumbai during the course of the 2014 IPL as a replacement for the injured Zaheer Khan, but he only made three appearances, taking three wickets at 26.Praveen will be replaced by 24-year-old Delhi seamer Pawan Suyal, who has played 15 first-class games. Suyal has already made two appearances for Mumbai. He made his IPL debut last year against Chennai Super Kings, and also played in the team’s win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in May, where he picked up the wicket of Virat Kohli.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes Karnataka opener KL Rahul and Railways legspinner Karn Sharma should be a part of India’s squad for the Test series against Australia in December-January

Gaurav Kalra03-Nov-20143:19

Dravid: Wrist spinners have a greater chance to succeed in Australia

Uncertainty over agenda

There is confusion over the purpose of the selection committee meeting on Tuesday. While BCCI insiders maintained that the selectors will select a team only for the last two ODIs of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, sources close to selectors said Sandeep Patil’s panel will select the squad for the Test series in Australia. The selectors will have to decide on the strength of the squad for the Test series. In England, India’s squad consisted of 18 players.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes Karnataka opener KL Rahul and Railways legspinner Karn Sharma should be a part of India’s squad for the Test series against Australia in December-January. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Dravid also stated that, in his view, Ravindra Jadeja and Gautam Gambhir would be surpluses to the team’s requirements on tour, while Suresh Raina would have to wait longer for a Test comeback. India’s national selectors will meet in Mumbai on Tuesday and could possibly name the team for the tour.Rahul, the 22-year-old Karnataka batsman, was one of the leading run-getters in the 2013-14 domestic season and recently scored a century in each innings of the Duleep Trophy final in New Delhi for South Zone. According to Dravid, this is the “right opportunity” to introduce him to the senior set-up.”He has scored over 1000 runs in the domestic season, looks in really good form with twin hundreds in the Duleep final, so if you are going to give a youngster an opportunity, it’s good to pick him if he’s in good form and actually playing well,” Dravid said. “You are picking him, at least initially, as a back-up opener.”Dravid also backed Shikhar Dhawan as an opener, stating that he “needs to be given another tour considering his track record in the last 10-12 months.” Dhawan played three Tests in England before making way for Gambhir, but the latter failed to make an impact, scoring 25 runs in four innings at an average of 6.25.Dravid was also convinced that despite some blow-hot-blow-cold performances in England, the core of India’s middle order – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma – should not be disturbed. According to Dravid, Raina was not “ready to replace these guys at the moment”, despite impressive performances recently in the shorter formats.Rahul Dravid’s squad for the Australia Tests

M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron.

“In their short international careers all the four middle-order batsmen I have picked have shown you glimpses that they could form a really potent combination,” he said. “Sure they have struggled as well, which happens to most young cricketers. But if you keep chopping and changing for every overseas series, then you find yourself in trouble. So Australia will be a good test after the disappointments of England. I think all four of them actually deserve to be given a bit more time. So it’s not that somebody else is not good enough, I feel that the four here need to be backed, especially for this series.”Dravid felt that allrounder Stuart Binny, who played three Tests in England wouldn’t fit the bill in Australia. He felt that while India’s experiment with five bowlers in England was “a brave one”, the side would need six frontline batsmen in Australia.”In Australia, India will need six batsmen, given the kind of pace attack that Australia has and the wickets they will be up against,” he said. “Pick three quality fast bowlers and a spinner, and hope you put enough runs on the board to give your bowlers enough time to pick 20 wickets.”Karn Sharma got Dravid’s vote over Jadeja as “wrist spinners have a greater chance to succeed in Australia especially if they bowl slightly quicker in the air and have a good googly.” In 34 first-class matches since his debut in 2007, Karn has taken 66 wickets at an average of 28.87.”Jadeja does a good job at what he does,” Dravid said. “You know what you are going to get with him, he will bowl wicket to wicket, he will bat well for you at 7 or 8 but I just feel if you want to win Test matches in Australia and you have a quality wrist-spinner, you give yourself a great chance.”Dravid picked Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron for the fast-bowling slots as he reckoned India would need “a bit of pace in truer conditions like Australia”.”With the Kookaburra ball, you need to put in a lot more to get more out of it, you need some pace. So, in my opinion, guys like Umesh and Aaron become more valuable,” he said.Dravid was optimistic about India’s challenge although the side has slipped to sixth place on the ICC Test rankings and will start the series as underdogs.”If they keep playing good cricket like they have, things will turn,” he said. “When you have a young side, you are going to have some ups and downs but at least we’ve seen in the last three tours that they are going in the right direction. They came close a couple of times in South Africa and New Zealand and actually won a Test match in England but couldn’t maintain that consistency. Hopefully, they go one better in Australia.”

Bermuda’s Allan Douglas Jr has been cleared to continue bowling in international cricket, after undergoing a home board analysis of his action

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2014Bermuda’s Allan Douglas Jr has been cleared to continue bowling in international cricket after undergoing a home board analysis of his action. Douglas was reported for a suspect bowling action following Bermuda’s ICC World Cricket League Division 3 match against Singapore on October 27 in Kuala Lumpur.Under the regulations, Douglas went through a home board analysis, which concluded that his action was legal. If he is reported again within two years, Douglas will have to undergo an ICC analysis of his action.

England’s batsmen enjoyed a warm-up in Canberra on Monday, with five batsmen scoring half-centuries in a comprehensive win over an ACT Invitational XI

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2015
ScorecardMoeen Ali scored an entertaining 50 and took two wickets•Cricket AustraliaEngland’s batsmen enjoyed a warm-up in Canberra on Monday, with five batsmen scoring half-centuries in a comprehensive win over an ACT Invitational XI. Ravi Bopara, Joe Root, James Taylor, Ian Bell and Moeen Ali all made it to fifty in England’s total of 6 for 364, before James Tredwell collected three wickets as the local side was skittled for 148.A more challenging practice match should await England on Wednesday against the Prime Minister’s XI, ahead of Friday’s tri-series opener against Australia in Sydney. But on Monday, a largely amateur ACT team featuring a couple of New South Wales state batsmen struggled to put up much of a fight, losing by 216 runs.Bell and Ali put on 76 for the opening wicket before Ali’s entertaining 50 from 38 balls ended with a stumping off the left-arm spinner Shane Devoy. Bell made 51 having been put down at point on 4, Taylor scored 55 at first drop and Root managed 56, before Bopara smashed an unbeaten 56 from 27 balls late in the innings. Chris Woakes finished unbeaten on 45 from 27.New ODI captain Eoin Morgan was the only one of the top six who failed to pass fifty, bowled for 32 when he tried to reverse sweep Devoy. But 6 for 364 was always likely to be too tall a task for the ACT outfit, and only three of their specialist batsmen reached double figures – Matthew Condon (36), New South Wales opener Scott Henry (26) and Andrew Harriott (27).Chris Jordan leaked 34 runs from his four overs but the rest of the bowlers were reasonably economical, with Tredwell picking up 3 for 11 and Stuart Broad and Ali two each. Tredwell said he enjoyed bowling in the Canberra conditions but the main aim was to ensure as many of the England players as possible had some game-time.”Sometimes it can be lovely to bowl here, clearly it was quite nice today,” Tredwell said. “A bit of turn and bounce can be good.You just want to get in a position where you can bowl attackingly and that was the key here. I got a couple of early wickets and had to be dragged out of the attack, I was ruining the game.”Clearly we wanted to get everyone a decent run out and I had to be the one who gave way a bit. It’s one of those things. I think I’ve been bowling pretty well of late and I want to carry it on game to game in this tour.”Playing these games of 13 or 14 a side you want get everyone a good go and clearly we’ve done that. Seven or eight of the batters got good time in the middle, there were five fifties and all the bowlers got a few overs under their belt so it’s a good way to start the tour.”

Easily cowed during the Tests, West Indies deployed arguably a stronger line-up for the first T20 and, despite an unconvincing finish, proved too good for an experimental South Africa

The Report by Alan Gardner09-Jan-20151:16

Gayle fifty downs South Africa

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsClive Lloyd complained recently that T20 cricket had “messed up” West Indies but whatever the ills of the shortest format it certainly stirs something in the Caribbean soul. Easily cowed during the Tests, West Indies deployed arguably a stronger line-up for the first T20 and, despite an unconvincing finish, proved too good for an experimental South Africa. Newlands briefly became the badlands for bowlers as Chris Gayle demonstrated his enthusiasm for Lloyd’s bugbear with a rambunctious innings of 77 from 31 balls.After the familiar slow start, with Gayle scoring 1 off his first six deliveries, he bounded to the fastest fifty by a West Indian, from 17 balls, and the joint-second fastest overall. The only surprise was that the record was previously held by Kieron Pollard rather than Gayle. He peppered the stands with eight languid sixes, mostly dispatched down the ground, before attempting something cuter against Imran Tahir and gloving a reverse sweep to the keeper.South Africa, missing several of their first-choice XI, had happily worn the underdogs tag beforehand and Gayle’s innings ensured that it suited them. Rilee Rossouw’s second T20 fifty had helped push South Africa to what looked like a challenging score on a slightly slow surface but Gayle, who missed the 2-0 Test defeat while nursing a back problem, roused himself to dismiss such theories. Once he had gone, West Indies looked a far more manageable prospect but they could not be knocked off course despite losing 4 for 17 at the end.When Gayle is in the mood, especially in this form of the game, there is little that the opposition can do. He is both unstoppable force immovable object. Kyle Abbott implored for an lbw decision from the third delivery Gayle faced – it was just missing off stump – and the reason for his desperation soon became apparent. The following over, he concluded that he had seen enough of Kagiso Rabada and clubbed him for consecutive sixes to the leg side. He made it three in three off Abbott before again tucking into the unfortunate Rabada, a wide-eyed 19-year-old on only his third international appearance.There is something of the gazelle to the lithe figure of Rabada and he was brutally hunted down by West Indies’ biggest cat. A sequence of four-six-four flowed from Gayle’s bat, then a thick top edge fell beyond the scrambling attempt of Rossouw running back from cover. Next it was Wayne Parnell’s turn to be mauled, four more boundaries taking Gayle to his half-century. Off 11 consecutive scoring shots Gayle had piled up 52 runs, putting West Indies on 78 for 0 after the Powerplay and almost halfway to their target.Chris Gayle made the fastest fifty by a West Indian on his way to a match-winning 77 from 31 balls•Gallo ImagesDwayne Smith fell lbw to Tahir in the next over, although he appeared to get some glove on the ball, and Gayle then throttled back a touch, content he had stated his case. Three times he reached out to swipe Tahir over the ropes before the big game reached his end game. Tahir was the pick of the South Africa bowlers and his exuberant celebrations seemed to inspire a late fightback. But by the time South Africa’s seamers were able to exert any control, the match was already lost.West Indies’ attack had proved better suited to the surface, with their battery of medium-pace allrounders concentrating on bowling cutters and slower balls, asking the batsmen to force the pace. Rossouw and David Miller fashioned South Africa’s highest stand, 48 runs for the fourth wicket, but it only featured three fours and the latter fell trying to hit Sheldon Cottrell over the off side. That dismissal went some way to atoning for Cottrell’s drop of Rossouw in the previous over, as did an impressive final over that conceded just seven.On his first international appearance in three years, Morne van Wyk swatted one pull for six and cracked another couple of fours square of the wicket but boundaries were otherwise hard to come by during the Powerplay. Reeza Hendricks managed to divert a bottom edge over Denesh Ramdin but fell next ball, as Cottrell got his inswinging yorker on target.Jason Holder bowled an immaculate line first up, removing van Wyk with a ball that was too full to cut, and he had figures of 3-0-7-1 when Faf du Plessis collared him in the eighth over to get South Africa motoring.Du Plessis, the senior batsman in a line-up missing the rested AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, as well as Quinton de Kock through injury, briefly rampaged around Newlands, hitting five fours and two sixes in the space of ten deliveries. He should have been dismissed on 28, when Holder’s lame attempted catch only resulted in six at long-off, but the bowler, Andre Russell, had his revenge with a filthy full toss two balls later, du Plessis spooning to the edge of the ring off a leading edge. The calm had been disturbed but the real violence was still to come.

A round-up of the Pro50 Championship matches played on January 25, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2015In what turned out to be a battle for second on the points table, Mountaineers got the better of Mashonaland Eagles courtesy a solid all-round performance. First their top and middle order contributed cameos around brisk half-centuries from Roy Kaia and Kudzai Sauramba to lift them to 267 for 5, before seamer Shingi Masakadza and offspinner Tapiwa Mufudza took the new ball and claimed four apiece to derail the chase. Kaia and Sauramba both made career-best scores, Kaia’s 85 not out coming off 102 balls and Sauramba’s 75 coming off just 53 with a four and five sixes. For Eagles, the only showing of note came from captain Greg Lamb, who made 73 off 74 in the chase before his team fell to a 60-run defeat.Rhinos suffered yet another defeat – their sixth in seven games – with a four-wicket loss to Matabeleland Tuskers, who stayed on top of the table ahead of the tussling Mountaineers and Eagles. Rhinos chose to bat and the decision backfired on them, with seamer Thabo Mboyi carving up the top order. He claimed Bothwell Chapungu and Bradley Wadlan off successive balls in the fourth over, and Rhinos never really recovered. They ended with 185, bowled out in the 44th over, and Mboyi finished with figures of 7.2-0-21-4. Tuskers’ were rocked early in the chase, falling to 3 for 2 in the first over, but half-centuries stands from Godwill Mamhiyo and Brian Chari and then Luke Jongwe and Keith Dabengwa were enough to see them home in the small chase.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has voiced his support for Lasith Malinga despite the seamer’s patchy form, believing “he will come good” when it matters most

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Feb-2015While teams such as Australia and New Zealand have arrived at the World Cup on a cloud of form, and intent to dominate the competition, Sri Lanka have chosen a less ambitious approach. The favourites speak of establishing winning momentum, and rolling forward like a “juggernaut”, but even back in November, Sri Lanka had simply set their sights on “peaking at the right time”.This is perhaps, in part, a reflection of how they have been successful in past tournaments; Sri Lanka have rarely been the outstanding team of the group stages, yet have been in five major finals since 2007. But in recent weeks, it also stems from an acceptance of the indifferent form of their attack.For no one is this more true than Lasith Malinga. He had been ordinary in the tournament opener against New Zealand, though he did rebound to take three wickets against Afghanistan. Lower on speed, and less fit than he has been in the past, however, Malinga is desperate to rediscover his menace, Angelo Mathews said.”If you watch Malinga in the nets, he’s the one who is working the hardest,” Mathews said. “He bowls for hours so he can get his rhythm back. He tries very hard to do his best for the team. We all know how good a bowler he is, because the things he does when in form are immense. I think he will come good.”Malinga has been the pivot of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs attack since Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement, and as such, his return to form is paramount to the campaign. However, the remaining bowlers have also largely been inconsistent during their time in the Antipodes, and Mathews said confidence is the key to regaining the attack’s lost potency.”When you’re in the World Cup, the bowlers can’t look too much into the technical side, but I think you’ve just got to give them confidence,” he said. “Lasith is back after injuries and bowling after a few months. He’s trying to get everything right so that at the back end of the series, when it comes to the quarterfinal, that is the time you’ve got to be at your peak.”Both the attack and the top order may be more comfortable in Australia than they have been in New Zealand over the past six weeks. As they prepare to play Bangladesh at the MCG, Sri Lanka will be aware of their strong recent record in the country. Since 2010, they have won an ODI series against Australia, tied another one, and progressed to the end of a Commonwealth Bank tri-series – losing that three-match finals series 2-1.”Wherever you play, you’ve got to play your best cricket, and I think we haven’t played our best cricket yet,” Mathews said. “Regardless of the pitches and conditions, if we play our unique type of cricket, we can win against any team. The Australian pitches offer a little more to the bowlers and the bounce is very true. So as batters when you get set, you can go for a big one.”Sri Lanka’s fielding has also been mediocre over the past six weeks. Straightforward chances were shelled throughout the series against New Zealand, and in the tournament opener in Christchurch. Mathews said the energy Sri Lanka have brought to their fielding had been disappointing.”The attitude on the field has to be improved, so that’s what we are concentrating on,” he said. “We’ve worked hard on our fielding, which is something the Sri Lanka team is usually well known for. My team is unique. We don’t want to follow any other team in this tournament. But if we can bring our A-game tomorrow, that would be great.”

Fawad Alam will lead the Pakistan A one-day and four-day squad on their month-long tour of Sri Lanka.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2015Fawad Alam will lead the Pakistan A one-day and four-day squad on their month-long tour of Sri Lanka. Pakistan A are scheduled to play three one-day and as many four-day games between April 26 and May 23.Alam, 29, has played three Tests and 35 ODIs for Pakistan and averages over 40 in both formats. Umar Amin has been named Alam’s deputy. Amin had scored 410 runs in nine List A games this season at an average of 51.25, including two successive hundreds in the Pentangular Cup One Day tournament.Head of the selection committee, Haroon Rashid, said the tour was part of “the long-term selection strategy to raise the back-up pool to complement the senior team.”Pakistan A in Sri Lanka itinerary

April 26: 1st one-day match, Matara
April 29: 2nd one-dayer, Hambantota
May 2: 3rd one-dayer, Colombo
May 6-9: 1st four-day match, Kandy
May 13-16: 2nd four-day match, Kurunegala
May 20-23: 3rd four-day match, Dambulla

“In this perspective, tours of junior teams are of paramount important. This tour of Sri Lanka is the first step in this direction. We would appreciate if a few more tours on an annual basis are arranged, enabling these upcoming players to get the exposure at the international level. This would help the selection committee to assess the potential of these players for their induction in the senior Pakistan team,” Rashid said.Pakistan A squad for four-day matches: Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Umar Siddiq, Umar Amin (vice-captain), Ali Waqas, Usman Salahuddin, Ali Asad, Imad Wasim, Fawad Alam (captain), Zafar Gohar, Shahzaib Ahmed, Adnan Akmal (wicket-keeper), Mir Hamza, Bilawal Bhatti, Shehzad Azam, Imran Khan.Standby players:Zia-ul-Haq, Saad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Naeemuddin.One-day squad:Khurram Manzoor, Umar Siddiq, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Amin (vice-captain), Fawad Alam (captain), Ali Waqas, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Israrullah, Imad Wasim, Zafar Gohar, Shahzaib Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Bilawal Bhatti, Ehsan Adil, Tabish Khan.

For a man who has always batted for the team’s cause, Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim can now count on the team’s stronger mentality, a result of limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza’s approach

Mohammad Isam in Khulna27-Apr-2015The Bangladesh captaincy will return to Mushfiqur Rahim five months after it has been altered by Mashrafe Mortaza’s successes. The decision to split the captaincy last September has made an effective start, initiated by Mushfiqur’s 3-0 Test series win over Zimbabwe in November. Now, the Test captain has to take forward the team’s form and confidence of November to April.Mashrafe led in the 5-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe before Bangladesh achieved their goal of reaching the World Cup quarterfinals. It was thought to be a difficult mission but Bangladesh came out of Australia and New Zealand a mentally stronger side. The last time Bangladesh had done well at a World Cup was in 2007 when they followed up the Super Eights qualification with four winless months. So it was significant when they beat Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series following the 2015 World Cup, and also in the only T20, breaking a 16-year drought against this opponent in any format.A string of losses in 2014 had cost Mushfiqur his limited-overs captaincy. Bangladesh conceded bilateral series to Sri Lanka, India and West Indies while also doing poorly in the Asia Cup and the World T20 at home. The change of fortunes came under Mashrafe, who is known as a more hands-on leader spending a lot of time in man-management. His results speak as much about his approach being successful. Mushfiqur said that he is taking the challenge, and not pressure, to continue Mashrafe’s good work.”You can call it challenge rather than pressure,” Mushfiqur said. “I will try to continue how we played in the ODIs and T20 but Test cricket isn’t going to be easy. They are the No 4 team in the world, so it becomes a different challenge for us. They have included some experienced players. So it is not pressure, but expectation. I think that works for our players because it brings the best out of them. They are confident and ready for hard work.Since November, Mushfiqur has been the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in ODIs, with 731 runs at 56.23, including a century and six fifties, all of which came in wins. His form hasn’t wavered much since mid-2011, after he took over the captaincy from Shakib Al Hasan.”Captains have an important role in every format. There is a positive impact on the team when the captain scores runs, takes wickets and makes correct decisions. The captain has to lead from the front. The ones who have done well recently, we have to carry that form into the Test match. I will definitely try to play a big innings.”Coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that the break from captaincy in the limited-overs arena gives Mushfiqur breathing space to bat freely in that format and for his Test captaincy.”Mushfiqur and Mashrafe are really good players,” Hathurusingha said. “Mashrafe is doing well in ODIs as captain and Mushfiqur is doing a great job in the Test team. I think they get time to reflect on what they are doing. Mushi is playing both formats, but it gives time for him to be refreshed and refocused on Test cricket. For me both are really good leaders.”Mushfiqur doesn’t want to go into the Test series with a draw in mind, and took a dig at critics who he said complain about the opposition when Bangladesh does well.”Nobody plays Test cricket to draw or lose. We hadn’t won in 16 years against Pakistan. A lot of people would say that their team wasn’t that good. Those of us who played in the middle exactly know how hard it was to score runs. It is quite natural that when we score runs, everyone says it is an easy attack and when we don’t, they say we can’t score runs against a weak attack.”If you play with draw in mind, you will be defensive. The opponent can understand that pretty quickly. I think we should play our natural game; the batsmen should be allowed to bat freely while the bowlers should be attacking. We are thinking of winning, and we have a number of match-winners.”Mushfiqur said that Pakistan will have the four successive losses in Dhaka in mind when they play the first Test in Khulna, despite having the additional experience and calmness of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan.”They are legends of Test cricket, and they will add to this batting line-up. But the 4-0 margin will be in their mind. They will be mentally a bit down as a result. Our bowlers have to keep these two batsmen under pressure, and get them out quickly. Azhar Ali is also batting well, and (Mohammad) Hafeez has experience.”Mushfiqur had been a good batsman during his full captaincy stint but his leadership didn’t inspire as much or for long enough. Mashrafe, in the last five months, has completely changed the make-up of the Bangladesh team. Now, Mushfiqur has to be inspired by his own overall form, his form during Mashrafe’s captaincy and Bangladesh’s results under Mashrafe. For a man who has always batted for the team’s cause, captain Mushfiqur now can count on the team’s stronger mentality.

Sabbir Rahman believes Pakistanis’ one-wicket loss to BCB XI will play on the visitors’ mind when they begin the ODI series against Bangladesh from Friday

Mohammad Isam15-Apr-2015Sabbir Rahman believes Pakistanis’ one-wicket loss to BCB XI will play on the visitors’ mind when they begin the ODI series against Bangladesh on Friday. Sabbir’s attacking 123 helped the home side get close to the win, after which the tailenders managed to squeeze in the remaining runs.”We break down mentally when we lose a practice match abroad,” Sabbir said. “Pakistan might be having the same thought process, which will have some effect on the first game. We will try to play better cricket there.”I think it is a big occasion. They are a big team. Beating them in the practice match will help us in the main series. But they have some very good bowlers. I think I batted well today though they did miss one chance off my bat.”Sabbir said that Bangladesh’s confidence had carried over from their World Cup campaign, where they achieved their goal of reaching the quarter-finals, and praised Imrul Kayes for his support during their 124-run stand after four wickets had fallen cheaply.”We did well in the World Cup so now our confidence is much better. We will have to make use of it in this series,” he said. “Imrul bhai gave me good support. I could play freely. I just thought I would hit any ball there to be hit. I will stay positive, which helped me and the team.”I will always make sure my team gets one more run from my bat. I am feeling great to have won the game with the century. This is my first century against a big team, so I don’t really have a list to recall my best century. I really enjoyed the innings. I played my natural game.”Sabbir made the century batting at No. 4, but when asked if he has a preference in the senior team, he said he was happy batting anywhere at the moment. “I don’t want to talk about my batting position. The team management knows where I should play. I will try to put my contribution for the team’s cause, from whichever position I am given. We have some very good batsmen at No 4 and 5.”Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan opener who made 85 in the practice match, had high praise for Sabbir, having never seen him bat before.”It was one of the best innings you will witness as a viewer,” Hafeez said. “He didn’t panic. He basically dominated the bowling. He backed himself whatever he was playing. It worked for him. It was a very good knock and I hope that this knock will give him more confidence and maturity to take to the international arena. I watched him for the first time. I think he was the only person who dominated that time after three wickets were down. He played a wonderful knock.”Pakistan have only one day before they start the ODI series, which is stacked with very little gap between matches. The first ODI is on April 17, followed by the second on April 19, and the third on April 22.