Towhid Hridoy, the young Bangladesh batter, feels that he will be better prepared in the upcoming Asia Cup following his stint with Jaffna Kings in the Lanka Premier League - his maiden appearance in an overseas franchise-based T20 tournament.
The right-handed batter returned home without completing the entire tournament despite being requested by the franchise to stay till the end following his impressive outing in the middle, making 155 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 135.96 including a match-winning 54 off 39 balls in his very first game against Colombo Strikers.
"I don't have any regret because I did not go there for the whole tournament. They requested me to stay back but that didn't happen and whatever happened I am fine with that," Hridoy told reporters following his arrival in Dhaka from Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
"The experience of LPL might help (in the Asia Cup) and it can benefit me. What I do on a particular day is the biggest challenge but still, I got some idea about the grounds and wickets and certainly, it will benefit me to some extent.
"It was a new experience for me and I enjoyed it. I have learned a lot and hope it will help me in the coming days. I tried to stick to my process and tried to utilize that whenever I got the opportunity. I tried to stay in my plan and play according to the merit (of the ball)," he said.
The 22-year-old from Bogura showed promise after making his international debut in the white-ball formats earlier this year for Bangladesh and looked to have cemented his place in the shorter format. He looked thrilled as he got a lot of support from the crowd in Sri Lanka.
"I received good support. Whenever I fielded on the boundary line, everyone recognized me, they always called me Hridoy, Hridoy," said the batsman.
"Every moment was enjoyable for me and nobody made me feel that I am an outsider. Thisara (Perera) was there and Mario (former Bangladesh trainer) was there and a couple of players played Under-19 with me, so I didn't feel that I was alone. They supported me and I tried to give my best."
Bangladesh will begin their upcoming Asia Cup campaign against Sri Lanka in Kandy, Sri Lanka on August 31, a day after the tournament gets underway in Multan, Pakistan with the match between Pakistan and Nepal.
Bangladesh will play their second and last Group B match against Afghanistan on September 3 in Lahore, Pakistan. The top-2 teams will qualify for the Super Fours, where each team will take on the other once. The top-2 teams will then qualify for the final.
