Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan stated his desire to bat longer than he did despite capturing the headlines with an excellent Test hundred on his debut against India on Saturday (December 17). The 24-year-old said that he didn’t ask too much from himself, given a difficult task at hand.
While Hasan could not secure much in the first innings, he showed grand resilience in the 2nd as Bangladesh confront a steep target. The left-hander mentioned his hundred in the 78th over with a sweep off left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Although, Ravichandran Ashwin got rid of him in the following over as the youngster edged one to the first slip.
Zakir Hasan completes his 100.
🇧🇩 – 208/3 (78.1)#SonySportsNetwork #BANvIND
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) December 17, 2022
After the 4th day’s play, Hasan said that Rahul Dravid applauded him on his knock. The left-hander states that opening the innings has not been his normal batting spot in Primary-class cricket.
As quoted by Cricbuzz, he said:
“(Dravid) Sir greeted me. He said I batted well. It is inspirational for such a great player and coach to come to congratulate me. It is a great feeling. I feel good scoring a hundred. I didn’t have many expectations, and all I wanted was to bat long since we are facing two days and a big total. I wanted to bat a little longer for the team.”
He continued:
“It might have been easier for them. I have usually batted at No 3 and 4. I haven’t opened the batting much. I usually face the new ball in first-class cricket. At times you get to bat after the first ball if you are at No 3, so you have to face the new ball. I was confident.”
Bangladesh, set 512 to victory India, built an opening suffer of 124 before Nazmul Hasan Shanto perished. The hosts lost 6 wickets by the end of the day’s play and required another 241 runs to victory on day 5, with Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan in the middle.
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