Sports Desk:

Naim Shiekh has finally got the chance to relaunch his career as he was included in Sri Lanka-bound ODI squad, albeit as third opener.

He was given some tasks by the selectors to make his case stronger for the national team from which he was dropped after 2023.

The tasks included improving his strike rate and he duly did it to make him available for the national team.

“Naim was given an advice to improve his strike rate in one-day cricket,” said National team selection panel chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu while announcing the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series. “And he exactly did what he was asked.”

Naim was a force in domestic cricket after losing his place from the national team. He made an avalanche of runs in every format of the cricket for the last years and also worked specifically to increase his ability to play shots around the wicket.

“Earlier, I was struggling a lot against off-spin. I tried to figure it out to how to rotate the scoreboard without playing dot balls,” Naim told journalist.

The shot range looked increased as he played sweep shots and reverse sweep, which were his weakest link, effortlessly.

“And if you talk about range hitting, I worked on it. Three years ago, Mushfiqur Rahim bhai said that if I can work on reverse sweep, it will become easier for me,” he pointed out.

Now, I played sweep, reverse sweep shots against off-spin effortlessly and it has become much easier for me due to consistent practice,” he informed.

Ability to play the shots around the wicket was evidenced in his performance also.

He scored 471 runs with one century and one fifty, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer for Dhaka Metro in the last National Cricket League (four-day) and then finished as the top scorer of NCL T20 with 316 runs in 10 innings, including three fifties. He maintained a strike rate over 135.

By carrying this consistency, he scored 511 runs with three fifties and one century, striking at nearly 145 at Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) while he represented Khulna Tigers. He won the Best Batter of the Tournament award for his incredible performance.

He then went on to score 618 runs in 11 innings in 50-over Dhaka Premier League (DPL) for Prime Bank to be the third-highest run-getter in the tournament. He struck two centuries and two fifties, maintaining a strike rate of 121.89.

“Unfortunately people just forgot my performance that I put in the last three years. So ideally you have to play well consistently, otherwise it would be tough for you to keep you in discussion,” Naim said.

After such performance, there is no way to overlook him. But question rose whether he can carry his domestic form into the International circuit.

The question in fact rose after Anamul Haque Bijoy failed to replicate his domestic performance in the International cricket.

Bijoy failed miserably in the two-match Test series, scoring only 23 runs including two ducks in four innings.

With Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon establishing them as the first choice openers, Naim Sheikh’s chance to make the playing XI looked slim. However since he has been in form, the team management may accommodate him in the team by bringing up slight changes in batting order.

“Your performance will talk about yourself. So my target is to play well and keep up the consistency wherever I play,” Naim said.