Being involved in a run out can frazzle the mind of the batsman who survives, but the maturity of Bangladesh’s No. 3 came to the fore as he responded with a stirring counterattack
Mohammad Isam in Mirpur28-Feb-2016Sabbir Rahman saw Mushfiqur Rahim running to his end when he too returned to the non-striker’s end. Angelo Mathews was whipping off the bails as Mushfiqur walked away disappointed while Sabbir just stood still, not making eye contact with the senior team-mate.At 26 for 3, Bangladesh were teetering on the edge of a batting collapse, a phenomenon that has often afflicted them in all formats of the game regardless of overall form. But Sabbir knuckled down, starting with three fours off the next over bowled by Thisara Perera. The freedom with which he swung for an outside-edged boundary, hammered the next through the covers or when he pulled the ball, showed that his maturity helped him overcome the mix-up with Mushfiqur almost instantly.Often when a senior batsman is run out in the way Mushfiqur was on Sunday, the junior team-mate at the other end is automatically under pressure. This has been prevalent in Bangladesh like in some other countries but credit here goes to Mushfiqur for not trying to make eye contact with Sabbir when they crossed paths. It would have been so easy for him to say something to Sabbir and for Sabbir to feel guilty though the fault was almost equally shared for the confusion.Sabbir said that he didn’t mull over the run-out but instead focused on the task ahead, which was to get Bangladesh out of the hole. He said that he tried to hit his team out of trouble, though the plan had risks.”Mushfiq and I had a misunderstanding but I didn’t think about it for too long,” Sabbir said. “I just tried to stay in the wicket for some time and try to take the team ahead as much as possible. Normally I bat at No 3. The first wicket fell early today. It was a different situation but I tried to get set. I tried to take it ball to ball. There was some pressure after three wickets fell but I thought I would try something different. If I was out, it would have been difficult for the team but I tried to play as my strength.”Old pros say that not looking at each other is the best way not to heap pressure on the batsman who remains at the crease, and Sabbir looked like he had taken up that trick. He has been, for several years now, recognised in Bangladesh’s domestic circles as a matured head on young shoulder. He reads situations quickly and can react fast, too, and that was also one of the reasons for him being picked specifically for T20s in 2014, before making it to the ODI team by the end of that year.Sabbir is now one of the established members of the ODI team and is increasingly becoming a vital cog in the T20 side. In this innings of 80 from 54 balls against Sri Lanka, he not only attacked in a smart way, he made sure Bangladesh’s batting intensity never dropped.In the over before the run out, he took 18 runs off Nuwan Kulasekara with whips, jabs, a cover drive and sweetly-timed square cut. Then came the 14 off Perera after the Mushfiqur mishap. Shakib and Sabbir slowed down thereafter but Sabbir resumed the boundary hitting in the 13th over with a slog-swept six, a pull and a beautifully driven four.Off Dushmantha Chameera’s first ball, he smeared him through the covers and after Rangana Herath had bowled five good deliveries in the next over his straight drive off the last ball went for four and kept Bangladesh’s run-rate above par. Another six came before he holed out at midwicket, dismissed after having scored 74% of the team’s total at the time. He had done the hard part, after which Shakib and Mahmudullah made sure Bangladesh didn’t go off the boil, helping add 39 runs in the last four overs.Mashrafe said that Sabbir’s way of batting doesn’t come off successfully all the time but against Sri Lanka, his bold approached had helped the team get out of a tough situation.”We always want Sabbir to play with a clear mind, he always wants to play the same way he tries that every match but that doesn’t meant that it will happen every time,” Mashrafe said”Today he managed to execute properly. If he wouldn’t have played those shots, and help us come out of pressure we wouldn’t have been able to score this much either.”Sabbir’s promotion to No. 3 has also been a hassle-free process for the team management because he has taken ownership of the role. When the BPL wasn’t going well, batting at No. 3 worked wonders for Sabbir before he did a better job of it against Zimbabwe in January. On Sunday, his 80 further repaid that faith placed in him to take up the responsibility, and his blend of cool head and fast hands set up a fine win for Bangladesh.
