Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who was named man of the series after the team’s thumping 4-1 series win over Australia in the five-match T20I series in Dhaka has said that facing “bigger teams” is always a motivation.
“There is always a motivation when you play the bigger teams – normally those which don’t visit our country that often,” Shakib told reporters.
The left-handed player further added that the side was riding high on the performance against Zimbabwe.
“Also, we had a really good series in Zimbabwe and so everyone was pretty motivated to do well in this series as well. We had never won a series against Australia, and so this was our chance. Hence, we wanted to deliver well as a unit, which is what happened.”
The hosts had taken an unassailable 3-0 lead earlier in the series after winning the first three T20Is but the Aussie side did fight back in the fourth clash to clinch a win.
Bangladesh then dominated the visitors in the fifth and final T20I after bundling them out for 62 while chasing a modest total of 123 in 20 overs.
Only two Australia batsmen managed to get to the double-figure mark during the course. Shakib scalped a four-wicket haul while Saifuddin picked up three wickets.