Sohan espouses fearless cricket

New captain of Bangladesh T20 team, Nurul Hasan Sohan, has said that he has learnt a lot from Mahmudullah Riyad, the man he replaced as skipper for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.

Sohan was, on Friday, named as the captain of the side with Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim rested. Speaking to reporters at the BCB headquarters in Mirpur on Sunday morning, Sohan said he would want his side to play as a team in Zimbabwe.

"I have played under Mahmudullah bhai's captaincy. I've played under others' captaincy too. I've learnt from all of them but everyone is different. I hope I can work with whatever I have learnt from them," the skipper said.

Read more

Shakib welcomes Sohan's appointment

The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who has been in good form in recent times both in domestic circuit as well as internationals, said he wants to take forward the work that has been done by the seniors.

Bangladesh will be without four of their most senior players – Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan – in the three-match T20 series, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series in Harare.

"The team culture improved a lot in the last two years. The seniors have taken our cricket to a level. The contribution of the seniors cannot be explained in one or two words. Our job will be to maintain that position," Sohan said.

Sohan, known for his aggressive batting approach down the order, doesn't often get the opportunity to play a long innings. Having admitted that there aren't enough power hitters in the squad, Shohan feels a short innings from him, in this format specially, can make a difference.

"Impact is more important than number of runs scored, in the position I bat in. If I can score an impactful 15-20 runs, that can be good enough if it leads to team's victory.

"We cannot afford to worry about options or reserves. We didn't have too many options. Most of the players that are in the squad have been playing for at least two years.

"The most important thing is playing fearless cricket. When you play fearless cricket, options will emerge. That will be my aim in this series," the new captain opined.