Bangladesh opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy has grabbed many eyeballs by scoring an extremely well-compiled century in the ongoing first Test against South Africa at the iconic Kingsmead stadium in Durban. The stylish right-handed batter exhibited enormous grit and determination to score 137 runs off 326 balls in a time when the visitors were down on the mat in their first innings. As a result, he has received great accolades from cricket pundits worldwide.
The Bangladesh batting consultant Jamie Siddons has also heaped praises on the young opener by terming his knock as one of the finest in the nation's Test history. He also presented Joy's knock as a learning model before other Bangladesh batters to make them grasp how they should bat on South African soil.
"We're really proud of the way he batted. Batting through the whole innings is special for Bangladesh. I'm not sure there have been many better innings for Bangladesh in Test cricket," Siddons said. "I have just said to the boys that Joy gave us a perfect example of how to bat in test cricket. You rarely see his levels of patience from our batsman", he further added.
Mahmudul has impressed everyone with his patience in his last 2 Test innings despite not having a great debut. On being asked the secret of Joy's success, the Bangladesh batting consultant said that the Chandpur-born batter is aware of his limitations and entirely focuses on his strengths while batting against the red-ball. Siddons also highly applauded Joy's sense of game awareness and his immense self-belief to bat for a long time.
"Today's innings was all about patience and a great game plan. He stuck to what he knew. He didn't try to play any expansive shots that weren't in his repertoire," Siddons said. "Joy manipulated the field quite well. He hit over the top when the field was up. Then, he knocked it for one when they put a fielder back. After that, he believed he could bat for six hours," the Bangladesh batting consultant concluded.
Bangladesh reached 298 in their first innings despite being reduced to 101 for five at one point, thanks to the magnificent century from Mahmudul Hasan Joy. The hosts were on six without losing any wicket at stumps on day 3, thereby having a lead of 75 runs.