Afghanistan batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi, who became the first Test double centurion from his country, credited change in his mindset for improved batting show.
After losing the first Test match inside the two days against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan on account of Hashmatullah Shahidi’s double century and Rashid Khan’s 11-wicket match haul bounced back to level the two-match Test series.
The left handed batsmen created history by becoming the first Afghan batsman to register double ton in Test cricket. He stitched an important 307 runs partnership with skipper Asghar Afghan, who scored 164 runs, and helped their Team to post a first innings total of 545 runs.
Addressing his double century in first innings, Afghanistan batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi said that to become first Afghan double centurion is a proud moment for him, his family and nation. He added that he’s hopeful that he’ll play same kind of innings in the future and play well for his nation.
''I feel great on becoming the first Afghan double centurion, and its proud moment for me, my family and the nation because in such short time someone from Afghanistan achieved this milestone. I hope that I play same kind of innings in the future and play well for Afghanistan." Hashmatullah Shahidi told Cricbuzz.
Shahidi said that skipper Asghar Afghan, after the humiliating loss in the first Test match, gave him confidence to take responsibility as a senior player.
''Our discussion was that we must fulfill our responsibility as senior players because he is the captain of the side and the most senior player and he also gave confidence to me and told me you should also take responsibility as a senior because in the first game we didn't play well and it was a disappointing game for us,'' he said.
Shahidi called making a comeback the ‘hardest’ thing in sport. He added that the same was in effect in the last game when the batsmen played rash shots and the team fluffed collectively.
''In cricket, and for that matter in every game, the hardest thing is the comeback. We were talking about big partnerships and taking responsibility as a senior. In the first game all of our batsmen played rash shots because after [a] long time we were playing [a] game in the longest format,” he said.
The left-handed batsman said that he realised his mistake which he made in the first Test match and credited change in his mindset for improved batting show.
''I realized and learnt from my mistake. I realized that I was in too much [of a] rush. The only thing I did was that I took time in the second game. I finished the pressure with Asghar Afghan and was telling him that I will take time and play a long innings. That was mindset for the second match,'' said Shahidi.
Shahidi further remarked that it was hard for him to change from white ball to red ball because he didn’t played red ball cricket for 18 months. He added that it would be easy to shift back to white-ball from red-ball because Afghanistan are used to play white-ball cricket.
''For me the hard thing was to come in from white ball to red ball. It was very hard because we did not play red ball cricket for such a long time... like 18 months and that was hard for me.
"I don't think coming back to white ball will be a problem because we are always practicing on white ball. We have domestic games in white ball and playing it everywhere so it will not be a big deal for me. I am ready for every kind of challenge,'' he concluded.
(Cricbuzz Inputs)
