Bangladesh’s pacer, Shoriful Islam, expressed satisfaction with his individual performances across all three formats for the Tigers throughout 2023. However, he couldn’t help but feel disappointment over the team’s overall results in the past 12 months.

Returning to Dhaka after the New Zealand tour, Shoriful shared his thoughts with the media, stating,

“Alhamdulillah, I had a very good year. But if we could’ve done a bit better as a team, that would’ve felt even better.”

In a year where the Tigers faced setbacks, losing three home ODI series and finishing eighth in the ICC World Cup in India, there was a somewhat positive conclusion with their maiden ODI and T20 win over the Kiwis in December. Shoriful played a pivotal role in these victories, emerging as the highest wicket-taker in both the ODI and T20 series. He was also honored with the player-of-the-series award in the T20s, marking his first such recognition in international cricket.

Despite Shoriful’s standout performances, Bangladesh faced a 2-1 loss in the ODI series and a drawn 1-1 result in the T20 series, with the second match being washed out due to rain. Shoriful strongly believes that had the rain not intervened during the second T20, where Bangladesh had a strong position with New Zealand at 72-2 after 11 overs, they would have secured a victory and taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Reflecting on the missed opportunity, he stated,

“It was a good series. The T20 series was going our way. If it hadn’t rained, we would’ve won the second match.”

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto praised his team for achieving their first-ever Twenty20 victory against New Zealand in the opening match of the three-game series in Napier today.

“Really excited and really proud with the way we played today,” Shanto said immediately after his side won the match by five wickets.

The Tigers secured the win, thanks to impressive performances by bowlers Shoriful Islam (3-26) and Mahedi Hasan (3-14), limiting the Kiwis to 134-9. Captain Shanto acknowledged the bowlers for adapting well to the conditions and executing their plans, emphasizing the importance of quick learning.

Shoriful and Sakib performed admirably with the new ball, while Sheikh Mahedi bowled effectively in the given conditions, according to Shanto. The unbeaten 42 by Liton Das and a valuable 19 from player-of-the-match Mahedi ensured victory with eight balls to spare.

Having previously led Bangladesh to their first ODI win over New Zealand in the same venue, Shanto now wants the team to focus on the upcoming two games, aiming for their maiden series win in the country. He expressed confidence in the team but stressed the need to plan for the next T20 and urged everyone to do their jobs.