'I tried to play the ball, not the bowlers': Joy
Joy's knock came against one of the best bowling attacks in the world that had Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson. But the youngster played the balls, not the bowlers.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy, playing just his second Test match and the first one overseas, played a gritty innings and set a platform for a big score in the second innings against India. Joy scored a patient 78 off 228 balls at the top of the order. Although he could not show the same resilience in the third morning as day two, the right-hander created a record of facing the most number of balls as an opener in Tests in New Zealand.
Joy's knock came against one of the best bowling attacks in the world that had Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson. But the youngster played the balls, not the bowlers.
"Their pace attack is the best in the world. They are the current WTC champions. But I tried to play my natural game and did not worry about these. I tried to play the balls, not the bowlers," said the opening batter.
Joy spent nearly five hours in the middle and did not worry about the number of balls consumed by him. "My plan was to stay in the crease for as long as possible and not to worry about the number of balls. All my partners told me the same and that's the reason why I remained calm in the middle," he mentioned.
The right-hander scored 66 runs in the lone practice game ahead of the Test match and that gave him the much-needed confidence after a dismal debut.
"I did not plan anything for the match. The warm-up match before the Test increased my confidence. I am getting good support from my experienced team-mates and they never made me feel like a newbie," Joy mentioned.
Earlier on day two, Joy and Shadman Islam - the Bangladeshi openers - stuck together for 18.1 overs and blunted the new ball. Joy stated that it was their initial plan to progress ball by ball and see off the new ball spells.
"Initially Shadman bhai and I planned to blunt the new ball. We wanted to progress ball by ball because that's how we could succeed. We had a decent partnership and then my partnership with (Najmul Hossain) Shanto bhai was great. Whenever I became a bit aggressive, Shanto bhai told me to calm down. Mominul (Haque) bhai too told me not to worry about the dot balls and continue to play the way I was playing," he concluded.
