BPL experience worked for me: Jaker

Bangladesh batter-keeper Jaker Ali Anik said his experience in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) helped him to gain confidence before he struck a blistering maiden fifty in the first of three T20Is against Sri Lanka in Sylhet on Monday.

Jaker was dismissed after scoring 68 off just 34 deliveries, smashing four boundaries and six sixes, as the local boy almost single-handedly snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat in chase of a mammoth 207-run target. Bangladesh eventually lost the game by just three runs.

The 26-year-old, playing only his fourth T20I, had shown impressive form for Comilla Victorians in BPL, scoring 199 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 141.3.

"I think it [the experience of BPL] worked as I was playing here just two days after the BPL. So, I think it worked well for me coming from that atmosphere and playing the T20 format. Since this is my home ground I have an idea about the ground and surface and it worked for me," Jaker told reporters after the match.

Jaker, who smashed the most sixes in an innings by Bangladeshi in the shortest format, informed that he was confident to win the game when the hosts required 12 runs off the last over.

Interestingly, Jaker was not part of the initial T20I squad, but was drafted as a last-minute inclusion after uncapped off-spinner Aliss Al Islam was ruled out due to injury.

"I always said that I will play for the national team when the time would finally come, and eventually my turn came. I was mentally prepared since the injury of Aliss, after which [Najmul Hossain] Shanto spoke with me and told me that 'you might get a chance and be prepared mentally'. So, yes, I was prepared," he said.