'I made up my mind to play till the end' – Imrul Kayes

The stylish left-hander, who was dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings, rated his effort with the bat as second only to his 72* in Bangladesh's win over Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2018.

"I would keep the innings against Afghanistan ahead of everything as it was very special for me,'' Kayes said after the game "I scored in a tournament like the Asia Cup after a sudden call-up to the team. Obviously, it was very challenging for me, and I played very well. I will put that ahead because it helped me know my strengths and limitations.

"When you score a century or play a good innings that helps your team win, it's always a great feeling. I built up the innings at a crucial time and scored for the team, which is a matter of joy for me."

The pitch in Dhaka was difficult to bat on, particularly for the opening batsmen of both the teams. The ball did not come on to the bat early on in the innings and the hosts found themselves in a spot of bother at 17/2 within the first six overs.

Kayes, however, absorbed the pressure and stitched together important partnerships with Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin to propel Bangladesh to a solid 271/8 in 50 overs.

"I was struggling in the initial period. I could not play drives and the ball was jumping around," said Kayes, who was adjudged the Player of the Match.

"When I tried to play strokes, wickets fell from the other side. So I had to make the adjustments. I made up my mind to play till the end. I understood that 250-260 could be a good score here.

"All the players have ups and downs in their career. No one can keep the same consistency. But I am not thinking about all this now and I just want to keep working hard to get the chance to play for the country."