Congrats Alok!! fastest century by a Bangladeshi

[bujhee kom]

congrats to alok kapali for playing such an entertaining inning fillrf with some massive hits!
very best of luck to you. hope many more of these innings are on their way!

[israr]

The Birth or the 're-birth' of a new star in Bangladeshi cricket, Kapali!

[PoorFan]

Alok proved why Sohel in love with him, now only if he can keep his consistency, it will be hard for Sohel, Beamer to dominate all alone.

[Sohel]

Here’s a rough transliteration of the PA INTERVIEW WITH ALOK KAPALI originally posted by Eshen HERE.

Excellent interview by US of PA, and totally deserving of its own thread IMHO. Sadly I just I wasn't able to open one.

“BREAKS MY HEART THAT DAD DID’T HAVE THE CHANCE TO SEE THE CENTURY.”

Utpaul Shubhro talks to the man of the moment. Still as humble, soft spoken, introverted and a little shy as ever.

US: Many people are looking at your century against India as a “re-birth” of sorts. How do YOU see it?

Ollie: I came here with a target: I just HAD to do well this tour. I had to do something extraordinary to stay in the team and knew it. Those not in the team at this moment, were performing well. There’s Shakib, Aftab and quite a few guys in the A Team.

US: “Doing well” means a century? How did you plan it?

Ollie: It was 120 for 4 when I came to bat. So I didn’t want to take any risks until the 40th over. I thought if we still have wickets in hand, we could hit our way to 260-270 in the last 10 overs.

US: The score was more than that. Now WE know you can play the type of shots you played, but a lot of folks were pretty amazed. It was like the Alok of 2002-03. How did you get that confidence back?

Ollie: I’ve been confident from the very beginning. I’ve had some decent knocks in the Premier League under difficult match situations. I’ve had big centuries in the National League also. I believed I would score.

US: We all had to go back to 2002 before this century. You were essential to the National Team even after those knocks against West Indies. How did you lose your way?

Ollie: I blame myself. I wasn’t in the runs for a long time. I’d play well before suddenly getting out.

US: We’ve also heard that too many suggestions from too many sources also created a bit of confusion for you.

Ollie: In retrospect, I realize that I was thinking too much about my batting. Footwork, back lift, … I was thinking too much about those things. Maybe I should’ve just played my natural game.

US: Perhaps Dav Whatmore made things a bit difficult for you also. In the 2004 tour of Zimbabwe, he made you an ODI specialist. Then we saw you open the ODI innings in West Indies only to have yourself dropped from ODIs. He also announced that he doesn’t see much of a future for you at this level.

Ollie: I don’t blame Whatmore at all. Everybody else was doing better then. He had told me many times that I have talent and if I worked hard, I’d do well at this level. I didn’t do well, perhaps that’s how he lost faith in me.

US: You just can’t say anything negative about anyone !

Ollie (chuckles): Not at all.

US: From being one of the top National batsmen to being dropped. Then the revolving door… must have been difficult times.

Ollie: It WAS difficult. I found myself quite depressed because I always wanted to play for Bangladesh and play for a long time. But many people also encouraged me during those times. My Premier League teammates Alok Da and Shahin Bhai always told me that I’d be able to return once I start to perform consistently. My family encouraged me also. My two elder brothers always picked me up when I though I had lost hope. I also believed that that if I performed consistently, I’d be able to get back to the team. I’ve spent a LOT of extra time in the nets.

US: And what a comeback! Now the challenge must be to sustain it.

Ollie: I know. It breaks my heart to think of my dad. He always dreamed of seeing me play for Bangladesh again, and see me do well. Breaks my heart that dad didn’t have the chance to see the century. He left us just two months ago.

US: After Aftab’s injury got you into the side, you said that you didn’t want to take anyone’s place. What did you mean by that?

Ollie: Injury cost me my place in the team. So, I know exactly what it feels like to be out of the team because of an injury or illness. Aftab must have felt awful about it. That’s why I said what I said.

US: Putting you in the A Team instead of the national Team was bizarre. Given your experience, why would it be difficult for you to adjust to International cricket?

Ollie: Although I felt a bit bad myself at first, I came to see that as an opportunity. I wasn’t ANYWHERE for a while there. No A Team or Academy cricket at all. I was just waiting for a chance. I believed that once I do, I’d be able to make use of it. That was my goal as I kept on playing. For example, I set a personal target to score 1000 runs in the NCL’s 4-day matches last season. I ended up scoring 1100 in 4-dayers and List A combined. I scored 695 in 4-dayers. I set specific NCL targets ever since being dropped from the national Team.

US: We remembered those two innings against the West Indies. But the cricket world knows you because of the hat trick. That was In Pakistan. Now your maiden century took place here also. One would assume you must like Pakistan quite a bit.

Ollie: I told a friend that Pakistan could be a beginning for me, before we got here. I did well here before, there’s the test hat trick, and a couple of ODI 50s as well. Maybe Pakistan is the lucky place for me.

I loved the way he handled Utpaul Shubhro’s lust for potential controversy: with simple honesty and class.

Class is permanent, no matter where you find some.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by Eshen
Alok's interview in Prothom-Alo

http://www.prothom-alo.com/mcat.news...2MDIw&mid=OA==

Let's see the captain or the khali kolshi tackle that kind of heat without raising controversy.

[akabir77]

He handled the interview very nicely. well done. It shows mature head is what you need in cricket not some dudehr bacha....

ANyway good luck Kapali. don't be a ASH be a rakibul. Stay away from ash make friends with sakib and rakib...

[nycpro96]

You see, Aftab Ahmed, what real slogging is? Slogging isn't hitting two sixes and getting out on the next ball. It's consistent BOOM BOOM playing just like your teammate Alok Kapali just did. I think if Aftab were to slog, why not like this?