I see T20 cricket as a 24-ball puzzle that you need to solve being smart – Allan Donald
The Bangladesh pace department was under severe criticism for leaking too many runs in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe as the fast bowling unit Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed conceded 137 runs in the combined 12 overs.
Batting first, Zimbabwe posted a total of 205 in the allotted 20 overs to draw the first blood of the series after winning the game by 17 runs.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh pace department was under severe criticism for leaking too many runs in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe as the fast bowling unit Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed conceded 137 runs in the combined 12 overs to end up with a combined economy of 11.41.
Taskin was not part of the second T20I while Mustafiur Rahman and Shoriful Islam combined an economy of 8.38 which Bangladesh won by 7 wickets to level the series.
Allan Donald, the Bangladesh bowling coach says that the bowlers need to be straight smart in order to do well in the T20Is, and calls it a 24-ball puzzle for the bowlers.
“South Africa were all out for only 90 runs against England the other day. So, T20 is such a game that teaches you harsh lessons. And in this game, I see a 24-ball puzzle that you need to solve and that’s being street smart,”
said Donald.
“That is something we are teaching and giving a lot of emphasis on. I think it’s the small steps that matter as I don’t care what type of team you are on. Yesterday, we had a good start. We have got to do that tomorrow [Tuesday] as well as we showed how smart we can be and we are expecting to bounce back as we did in the last game on Sunday. Look, it’s the final tomorrow and it will be played on the pitch of the first game and it should be a cracker of a game and I’m looking forward to it,”
he said.
Donald adds that he is quite impressed with the calmness of Hasan Mahmud. The right-arm pacer made his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2020 but he was left on the sidelines following an injury.
He nearly spent a year in rehabilitation before making his comeback in domestic cricket in Dhaka Premier League (Bangladesh A list tournament), he made his comeback in international cricket in the second T20I against Zimbabwe, ending on the fixtures of 1-26 in four overs.
“I was particularly impressed with Hasan Mahmud as I heard so much about this young kid. He showed great skill and what I like about him are his overall character and his calm demeanor. I have been here for a year and a half now and he is a lovely kid. He is a big strong boy and it’s nice to work with him,”
Donald said.