‘Hard work’ mantra pays off for Shoriful

The Bangladesh pacers have delivered some fiery performances in the ICC Under-19 World Cup and left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam picked up the baton against India in the final at Potchefstroom yesterday.

Shoriful provided a solid start and conceded just six runs from his first three overs. More importantly, he displayed sheer aggression with the new ball alongside Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Avishek Das.

Courtesy of some tight bowling from Bangladeshi seamers, India could only manage 23 for the loss of one wicket in the first Powerplay and Shoriful played a vital role in keeping the in-form India top order at bay for a significant amount of time.

The 18-year-old was on a hattrick at one point, having dismissed India’s top-scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal for 88 and Siddhesh Veer off the next ball to rattle the holders, who eventually folded for just 177 runs.

The youngster from Panchagor believed that the hard work from seamers in the nets with the new ball worked wonders Tigers.

“We practised a lot with the new ball in the nets and it worked out well for us today (Sunday),” said Shoriful.

Bangladesh were electric on the field and induced two crucial run outs in the innings and Shoriful credited the fielding coach for all the hard work, saying: “We have been working under Foisal Hossain Decans [fielding coach] sir for the past two years and we enjoyed our fielding. I think our fielding was very good.”

The crowd also played a big role, providing immense support to the team throughout the tournament, including at the final yesterday, and Shoriful said it motivated the cricketers to perform well.

“The crowd played an important role as they supported us throughout the day. When they cheered ‘Bangladesh’ it motivated us a lot and lifted our energy,” added Shoriful.