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The United States of America stunned the cricketing nation after staging an upset against Bangladesh for the second consecutive time to clinch the three-match T20I series with a match to spare. USA fast bowler Ali Khan was thrilled with the historic win as he mentioned that winning the series against Bangladesh was ‘no fluke’ for them, and they will stage more upsets in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held in their country this year.
“We [USA] are hungry, and are going to try to eat whoever comes in our way,” Khan said. “This is a time where we can make some changes and adjust. Team looks balanced, and all the guys are hungry. I am sure USA will do some upset [in the T20 World Cup],” he said.
“We need to put USA out there on the world cricket map. Sometimes when you win against a big side, they say oh it is a fluke. But beating them twice, back-to-back, winning the series is not a fluke. We have the talent, skills and the ability if given the opportunities,” the USA fast bowler added.
Ali Khan talked about how he backed himself for the final overs, where he scalped three decisive wickets to take the team home.
“The captain (Monank Patel) asked me to stay ready, and I stayed warmed up,” Khan said. “I knew I would be coming on to bowl the 18th and 20th over or the 17th and 19th, depending on the situation. Right before I came on, we got a breakthrough and that added pressure on Bangladesh. I just backed myself and tried to do what I do best at the death.
The USA pacer also revealed the plan he executed against Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, the team’s lone survivor at the time.
“The wicket got slower, and they were expecting me to bowl with pace, and that’s why they threw their bats and helped me to get the inside edge with Shakib. The plan was to make them hit against the wind, which was the off side for Shakib and tried to throw the first ball away from him. He tried to drag it on and helped me get that wicket.”
As the USA sealed an emphatic win in their favour, Ali believed more opportunities could help the team’s players prove their prowess to the world.
“It’s massive. In a series like this, individual performances count as well. As a team, just shows the world what we can do if given the opportunities. If we keep playing at this associate level or lower level, you are just going to stay there. But if you have more opportunities to play against bigger sides, top ten teams, there’s definitely ways of doing an upset. More opportunities against full members will help us showcase our talent.”
Ali, who was returning from an injury, took a while to get into his rhythm after going for 49 runs in the first T20 match of the series for just one wicket. However, the pacer said that he learnt from the mistakes and rectified them in the second game as he finished with the best figures for his team with 3/25, anchoring the team to a historic win.
“I was coming back from a major injury and you need time in the middle to get back into rhythm. It was for me to just go out and get used to the conditions. It didn’t go the way I would have liked, usually I don’t go for that many runs. But it was my first game back, no excuse. What I learnt from that game, I tried to implement in this game,”
“The World Cup is coming up, so we don’t have much time. I still feel there’s a lot of improvement to be done,” he concluded.
