Hridoy and Jaker Ali (68) orchestrated a spectacular recovery for Bangladesh, who were at 35/5, with a record-breaking partnership of 154 runs for the sixth wicket until the latter left after mistiming a drive meant to clear the mid-wicket boundary.
“An innings of real resilience given where Bangladesh was when he first came into the crease and the last 20 minutes or so, an innings of real character” is how well-known cricket analyst and former England captain Michael Atherton characterized Towhid Hridoy’s knock in Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy match against India, where the 24-year-old middle order batsman scored his first ODI century. However, Shubman Gill and Mohammed Shami’s outstanding efforts gave India a winning start, therefore his knock was in vain.
We lost a few wickets early, so Jaker Ali and I played together, so the attitude was really obvious. All we did was try to establish a cooperation. The wicket was a little tough at the moment. During the post-match press conference, Hridoy stated, “At times, the ball was creeping a bit in terms of spin.”
Hridoy took full responsibility after Jaker exited in the 42nd over, and he made the decision to break free from his restraints and adopt an aggressive mindset.
After reaching his maiden fifty in 85 deliveries, he reached his second fifty in just 29 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes. Hridoy never appeared at ease again, even as he brought up the three-figure score, after cramping up when he reached 88 while diving for a single.
Hridoy claimed that he played the waiting game and batted carefully on a slow wicket, but cramps interrupted his preparations. “Even though it appeared simple from the outside, losing five wickets made it difficult. What actually happened was that I was patient at the moment, talked to myself about how I could leave, and believed that if I could continue, I could cover the dots. I could have scored twenty to thirty more runs if I hadn’t had the cramp.
Hridoy supported his captain’s choice to bat first and said that even though they got off to a slow start, they managed to rally and that things would have turned out differently if the sixth wicket duo had stayed till the very end.
“We were certain of our intentions and intended to bat (first).” This happened simply because we lost early wickets, but Jaker and I recovered well after losing those early wickets, and if we could have completed the game, we could have scored 270. And the game would have been different in that situation. The wicket wasn’t simple, and they pursued in 47 overs,” he remarked.
In their remaining games, which would be contested in Rawalpindi against Pakistan and New Zealand, Hridoy predicted that Bangladesh would return stronger. “We know Pakistan’s conditions will be different and from here we will come back stronger.”
India
