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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 17, 2019

Shakib Al Hasan

Taunton, England, UK

Bangladesh - 322/3 (41.3), West Indies - 321/8 (50)

Q. First of all, that was an exceptional hundred. Two questions; first of all, what was the belief at the mid-innings break? And, second, is that the best you've played in one day, just seeing this is the World Cup?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: I thought end of the first innings in the dressing room no one felt that this was tough. Everyone was comfortable and was chilling. It gave a lot of confidence in the dressing room and belief that we could chase that run.

Once we started batting, I think the way the opener started their innings, everyone in the dressing room felt good and comfortable and relaxed. That helped us a lot in the dressing room, especially, that everyone was feeling comfortable. So no point of time we had to panic. So that was the best part of this chase, I think.

I've been batting well. I don't know if this is the best I have been batting or not, but so far it's going well and fingers crossed, hope it continues.

Q. When Liton came in it was three down at that time and three of those wickets fell. It was not their day in a way. What was the talk like, because it was his first World Cup game? And the second question is, obviously he asked about whether this is your best innings or not, but obviously you made the World Cup a fun tournament to watch with your four innings and your bowling and the whole impact. Do you feel that way as well?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: At this moment, yes, I've been contributing well with both ball, bat and with my leadership, and it's been key to our team. I'd love to continue because there are four more games left, and if we have to play it safe, we have to play our best cricket. And everyone needs to contribute and chip in. At this moment, I'm doing well. So I need to make sure that I keep on doing what I've been doing.

So the talk was I knew the wicket was good. And I told them that if you have a steady wicket we can finish the game with three down. After I think 10, 15 balls, the way he batted, I think it was a treat to watch. I enjoyed his batting from the nonstriker end.

He never put me under pressure during the chase. So that was the best part I think in his innings. And first match in the World Cup, coming into the team after three or four games, it's not an easy situation for a player. But the way he handled the pressure was brilliant.

Q. Firstly, when you extra fired up coming into this World Cup, the way you performed? It seems you were determined you would make this World Cup your own?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: I was determined. I wanted to do well. I wanted to contribute for the team. And as I said, it's been going well. That doesn't mean I can take anything for granted. There are four more matches to be played and hopefully we qualify.

As I said, at this moment it's been going well. I just need to make sure that I stay fresh, I stay relaxed and enjoy what's been going on and keep on focusing on my game plan.

Q. You kept making room for the fast bowler and slashing them down the ground. Any reason for that tactic?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: Not really. At this moment I'm seeing the ball really well. I think it is one of the key part of my batting that I've been watching the ball really well at this moment. And I'm getting more time when I'm batting. So it's been helping me a lot.

But I keep on saying one thing, that at least four more matches left and it's the midway of the tournament. So I have to be patient and I have to start every innings the way I've been starting.

Q. You've had some great moments playing for Bangladesh and then World Cups too. But where does this game rank, the style of the win, the fans, the whole ground pretty much supported your team?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: It's obviously one of the best, because the way we chased that run, the way I paced the innings, I was never in a rush. I didn't have to play too many shorts from a good ball. So I had to wait. I had to be patient enough.

And I was patient enough to put the bad ball away. I needed to make sure that when I played I had to -- the bad ball I need to put away. And I think every time I did that quite well. And it's one of the key things in my batting in this chase.

Q. The way that you as a team I guess rode your luck and were aggressive and were prepared to take risks early on in the innings particularly and against a short-ball attack. What do you take from that into your next game against Australia, who also have a pretty powerful fast bowler?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: We've been facing some of the best fast bowlers in the last four matches. Every match -- every team got, I think, at least two bowlers who bowl 140-plus. And we've been coping up well.

We're not worried about that because we played England. We played West Indies. Both the teams got 140-, 150-plus bowlers. I think faced with all this, we just need to do our basics right. I think we're a skilled team and we are capable enough to counter those challenges.

Q. From a bowling perspective, you restricted a powerful West Indies batting lineup to four runs and over for the first 20-overs. First, how how much confidence do you take from that? And second, how important was it to have somebody like Courtney Walsh, a West Indies legend, behind the scene devising tactics for this particular attack?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: I think both the new ball bowler bowled brilliantly today. We didn't give them any easy balls to hit. It's been key to our success, especially in our bowling department. And the spinners, every time they come and they chipped in with their wicket or they restrict runs.

So we know if everyone do their job, especially in bowling and fielders bat it up well, we'll have a decent ODI bowling attack. We might not have the pace like England or Australia, but all the bowlers, they have the skill.

Yes, we need a little bit of help from the wicket or maybe a little bit of luck. That's what we need. And at this moment we're getting it. So I'm hoping that we'll get those small things in our favour and we can do well.

Q. West Indies bowled very short. Do you think they bowled too many short balls?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: They bowled, I think, 280 a side either full or short. We knew it was going to come. And we prepared for those challenges. So I thought the wicket played really well today, so we could play our shorts. We could play our shorts in gaps.

Everyone had their own ways to adjust to those short balls. And I think everyone had their particular game plan which worked brilliantly.

Q. How would you rate the West Indies bowling? How good were they today, or bat, or whatever?
SHAKIB AL HASAN: I thought at certain times they bowled well. They bowled good areas. But I thought they were not patient enough to bowl in good areas for a longer period of time.

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