Afif wants to bat in top order for Tigers

The performance of young all-rounder Afif Hossain has been one of the bright points of the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20. Playing for Rajshahi Royals, Afif has caught attention as an opening batsman with 306 runs in 10 matches, and has also been decent with the ball with five wickets under his belt. 

Despite his good form batting up the order, Afif has mostly been used in the lower-middle order in his eight T20I appearances for the Bangladesh national team.  

Addressing the media after a man-of-the-match performance in the BBPL against Sylhet Thunder, the youngster said he would like to bat at the top of the order for the Tigers as it would give him more room to score runs. 

“I would certainly like to bat at the top for the national team. I enjoy batting in the top order and my preferred position in T20s is number three. At present, I am not getting that chance in the national team. Where I am batting in the national team, there are hardly any chances to score big,” Afif said at Sylhet International Stadium on Saturday, after scoring a 30-ball 46 against Thunder.  

#Royals coast to victory against #Sylhethttps://t.co/PLkgzMxfFn

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) January 4, 2020

“If I get the opportunity to bat up the order, I will try to seize and make the most of it by performing well,’’ he added.

Afif had initially batted at number three for the Royals, but was then promoted to opener. 

“I love batting at number three in T20s and I batted at number three in first three matches. In T20s, there is hardly any difference between opening and batting at number three. I have played with Liton [Kumar Das] bhai earlier and we played for Sylhet Sixers last year. We also had problems with openers there and later I opened with Liton bhai, and from that point of time we have a good understanding,’’ he explained.

Afif added that he looks impatient at the crease as he always looks for runs.

‘’I always try to score runs that’s why it appears that I am in a rush, but there is nothing more apart from that,’’ he said.