Driven by desire, not persistence, to make Bangladesh comeback - Sharmin Akhter

Many in the cricketing circle of Bangladesh feels Sharmin Akhter is one of the toughest women cricketers around. She made a huge comeback internationally after being dropped. In an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz she opened up about her journey and her new batting style.

Here are the excerpts:

Can you tell us how you took up cricket?

I am part of the first batch of Bangladesh women's cricket from BKSP. When I first came in BKSP, I was very raw, like I did not understand anything. Initially, our coach was Rashed Iqbal sir, the current analyst. He coached us for 6 to 8 months. Then he started teaching us from the very beginning - how many balls make an over, how many types of wickets, no balls and wide balls etc.

Earlier, we used to watch cricket but did not have the deep knowledge. Also, I never thought of taking up cricket as a profession. Even my admission was a sudden event. One day, we were playing at the district stadium. Myself and Pinky (national opener) - we used to play badminton for our school at the Gaibandha District Stadium. Meanwhile, one of our coaches - Bablu bhai from the District Sports Council - said to us, "Pinky plays cricket and she has already started her cricket journey long ago. She plays very well. You are quite fit also. I think, as women's cricket has started and is developing, you will improve if you play it.

Then I wanted to attend the test for BKSP, but the family forbade me. I was in class eight and preparing for the scholarship exam. There were scholarship examinations in class five and eight in our time. My parents did not want to allow me. Then I said, "I attend tests in many schools and it is not sure that they will take me once I go there. Let me attend the test and see what happens in future."

Then we came to attend the test. On the first day in BKSP, we had to run six laps in the athletics track. There, basing on fitness, the events were distributed. There was no particular skill test for cricket. Then I got admission in BKSP and started my journey. If I did not get admission in BKSP, maybe it would have been impossible for me to be a cricketer.

You made a huge comeback after being dropped from the national setup? What had driven you during that point of time? Is it persistence or something else?

I would not call it persistence. It is about desire. I started thinking how I want to see myself. I did not think of anything other than cricket in BKSP. When I left home for BKSP, I was a good student. That worked in the back of the mind. If I did not choose cricket, I could have established myself with my education - maybe a job, or anything where I could use my brain. I had the feeling that I had that capability.

So, when I came to cricket, I had to swim against the tide. My family did not want it and my studies did not progress as expected though my family wanted me to get established through education. Maybe I studied, but not as per their expectation. Then I thought, as I am dropped from the squad, that means I have played cricket 'so-so'. My studies are also 'so-so'. I could not concentrate to my studies as I cannot think of anything other than cricket.

Then I realised that my ultimate goal is cricket. Even if I want something apart from it, I would not be able to deliver my 100 percent. The way I deliver my 100 percent in cricket, I could not do it in any other sector. When I sleep, eat, walk around, or use my phone, I do it for cricket. The purpose is cricket. Then I thought that there is nothing that human beings cannot do. If I deliver my 100 percent and still fail, then it is alright and I will leave that to Almighty. But I will not give up too quickly. I also did not find reasons to leave. I think, sometimes human beings give up themselves. If we do not give up, nothing is impossible.

Many feel you are mentally very strong?

If you ask me, we all do skill training in the same way. In the meantime, those who are mentally better and can come out of tough situations can keep themselves calm and cool in the dressing room.

When you are out of the national team, you don't get the facilities as a woman cricketer. If you want to practice outside, the facilities are limited and you need to create those. When you are in the radar of national team, then you get all the facilities. You just need to execute the plans given to you. So, that is quite easy. But when you are dropped, those who have better mental strength can carry on in tough situations.

The decision is made there - how I want to see myself. Definitely, no one gets dropped for playing well. We are dropped for having weak zones or getting stuck somewhere. But it should be taken positively - I have taken in positively always.

My coach Mohammad Salahuddin sir said to me, "If you cannot do anything better for the team, why should the team pick you? Even I would not select you." So, if I fail to create an impact for the team, the team would not select me ultimately. It is a team game, so bringing the result for the team is our ultimate goal. We all play for the team, not for playing only. He did all these counseling to me.

I think, if we can be mentally tough, the skill develops automatically. Sometimes, we may have good skills, but cannot take the toughness and then we fail. I think, if we are not mentally tough, then it becomes difficult. The same goes for men's team's Shakib Al Hasan. He is mentally tough, that's why when he gets stuck, when everyone thinks he is finished, he comes back. The same goes for Nahida. In the toughest situation, the way she makes herself calm down, the way she works for her betterment. Thinking about herself, backing herself up... as our batting coach Sojib bhai says, "Back yourself" - the confidence is important.

You are scoring runs quite quickly? What have you changed in your batting?

I feel the difference in my mind. I have changed my mindset. The fears will always be there. If anyone says she has no fear, it will not be right. Every batter has fear. But what I want to do, how I am accepting the challenge, is important. I want to get involved in the match - what the team demands and what I should do. It is not that I will bat according to my flow.

If you do not try anything different in international cricket, it is difficult to score runs. If I cannot play on my backfoot, the bowler will bowl me there all day. That's why, I try to play in different ways for my own benefit and strike rotation. If the strike is rotated, the team gets more benefit as well because you can be relaxed then.

When we play dots, we get stuck and then batters get dismissed because they take a bad decision when they cannot score runs. Everyone cannot keep the calmness. It doesn't work as a batter always. The opportunity doesn't arrive for them to wait for two overs and then take on, when you have already played too many dot balls. In international cricket, you will feel the pressure automatically, after playing some dot balls. I am trying to improve my strike rotation. I bat in the top order. If we cannot score runs from the beginning, we may not be able to accelerate in the death overs.

You are rotating strike against spinners quite regularly?

If you see in world cricket - both for men's and women's - spinners operate in the middle overs, especially after the PowerPlay overs and before the slog overs, you have to play spin. Against pace bowlers, you may score 3 to 4 runs per over easily. But we may struggle to score when the spinners bowl at the right spots. So, we are working on finding runs against spin. If you can take 4 runs per over against spin, then the game becomes easy. You have more boundary options against pace. But against spin, you don't get boundary options unless the delivery is too bad. Against spin, the singles option is more significant because if you can rotate strike, you will be relaxed and the scoreboard will be moving. In international cricket, you have to play well against spin ultimately.

How was your preparation? You lost to Under-15 boys?

BCB has tried their best. We had our previous camp in Sylhet. The gap of international cricket cannot be fulfilled with anything. BCB has tried their best, but all teams are engaged internationally. Otherwise there could be international tours arranged. So, this gap cannot be covered. B

ut playing matches with U15 covers the gap of competitive cricket, as there were different bowlers and different challenges. No matter how many matches we play among ourselves, we all know us. We know who bowls and bats in which manner, and it is different from the match against U15. The batters and bowlers were very new to us, as their videos are unavailable. So they were unknown and surprising to us. But I want to take it positively. We will get the opportunity to overcome the mistakes we made here. About ideal wicket, what is gone is gone. Now if we keep thinking about it, we will not be able to play the next match.

What will be your plan against Pakistan? You all are quite confident against them?

Every team in the World Cup is good. We are going as the eighth team while Pakistan is going as the seventh but yes we have a better winning percentage against them. If we can win the first match with good performance, it will be a boost for us in the next games as the opponent will feel us as threats. Ultimately, it is not a fact who you are winning against, rather, winning is the fact. When you win, the environment is different. If we win the first match, the momentum will be in our favour.