Bangladesh can take a lot of positives despite losing the T20I series opener against Sri Lanka in Sylhet on Monday.
 The return of Mahmudullah in the shortest format while the introduction of Jaker Ali Anik in the finisher’s role were the things that Bangladesh could take for the long run from the series opener.

 Mahmudullah, who decided not to follow the path chosen by Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim by retiring from the T20 format, waited for 550 days before playing again for the Tigers in T20Is.

The experienced cricketer made sure his return was a noteworthy one by cracking a brilliant fifty to give a fitting reply to his critics after being written off by them.

Jaker, on the other hand, can claim him lucky as he was included in the T20 squad after Aliss Al Islam picked up a finger injury but he did not take time to announce his arrival as he struck a blistering knock of 34-ball 68 and just narrowly missed to win the contest for the Tigers.

Bangladesh’s T20 batting has always been criticized for not being able to turn the table in the end as they don’t have the muscle power to clear the ropes with ease.

Mahmudullah, who played the role of a finisher before being in the wilderness for one and a half years after playing his last T20I against Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup in Dubai, had to curb his batting aggressiveness with tail-enders being his partner on the other hand.

However, that was not the case in the opening game of the series considering he looked to be in a different zone after hitting the first ball for a six and after being reduced to 68-4 in the ninth over during their chase of 207 runs, Mahmudullah and Jaker added 47 runs in quick time to bring Bangladesh back in the contest.

Jaker, who is known to have played the role of a finisher in the recent past, played sensibly as he did not try to match Mahmudullah after joining him rather he was focused on rotating the strike and getting the odd boundaries.

It was only after the departure of Mahmudullah for 54, Jaker began to smash Sri Lankan bowlers all parts of the ground and shared a quick-fire 65-run stand with Mahedi Hasan (16) to bring the equation down to 12 runs from the final over.

Shanaka removed Rishad Hossain (0) with the first ball of the final over and Jaker fell two balls later, holing out to long-off while attempting to launch a full delivery that confirmed Bangladesh’s defeat by just three runs.

The new-look batting line-up of the Tigers that is likely to be changed following the arrival of Shakib Al Hasan, who missed the series against Sri Lanka for personal reasons, indicates that Mahmudullah and Jaker might go down to six and seven and if that is the case, according to country renowned coach Nazmul Abedin Fahim, it will be a huge boost for the Tigers in the coming days.

“I think when Mahmudullah sees Jaker coming after him rather than an all-rounder or a tail-ender, it surely makes it easy for him to express himself as he is aware even if he gets out while taking chances, there is someone else like Jaker to take the game forward. That is exactly what happened last night (against Sri Lanka),” Fahim told The Daily Sun on Tuesday.

Fahim said that he is happy for Mahmudullah as he successfully managed to keep him away from all kinds of noise and just focused on the work that he saw closely during his association with Fortune Barishal last season.

“I think he took it as a challenge. Whatever he has done, he has done very quietly. Many people take the challenge but also make some noise. He didn’t make any noise and he enjoyed it.
“It can be understood by the way he celebrates. There is no arrogance. There is an essence of self-satisfaction, a deep self-satisfaction within him. That is what drives him actually. He wants to fulfil his needs,” he said.

“We have a culture of taking a few deliveries to settle in. I think he (Mahmudullah) improved on it after playing for Barishal. I will go and hit and I will play according to the situation. He plays very positively. If we look at a few of his previous innings, it can be understood that he plays very positively,” he said.

Fahim added that as Jaker plays a similar role in domestic cricket, it is also helping him a lot in international cricket as well.  

“Of course, he (Jaker) can bat. He is a proper batsman. He can hit big, can score runs at the back end, the running between the wickets is good, the batting plan is very good and he knows what he is doing. Even yesterday, he didn’t hit from the start. He doesn’t panic. He knows the situation and he has been in this situation many times,” he concluded.