Rony Talukdar's mental state after making his comeback has fit well with Bangladesh's new-found fearless attitude. He said that captain Shakib Al Hasan and the rest of the team management have encouraged the players to be aggressive and show positive intent in T20Is.
Bangladesh have won five matches in a row for the first time in the format, claiming T20I series wins over England and Ireland this month. They also beat Ireland 2-0 in the ODI series in Sylhet.
Talukdar has led this new confidence with his clean hitting in the powerplay, supplementing Litton Das perfectly. The duo set Bangladesh's new opening partnership record in the second T20I against Ireland, having already broken the record for most runs in the powerplay in the previous game. Their blazing starts have been a breath of fresh air for a T20I side that yearned for an attacking opening pair for a long time.
"Shakib bhai is such a legend of the game that when I played with him in Abahani twelve years ago, he had the same intent and mentality," Talukdar said. "He always tries to be positive. He always tries to dominate the game. He is trying to spread it within the team. We will play like tigers. We will try to dominate the opponent. We will be fearless. We might fail and then we will succeed. If we can carry this mentality, we can have more success. The coach also thinks in the same way.
"The team management gives us a plan which we try to implement. The basic plan is to have positive intent. We talk about playing fearless cricket. That is the instruction. It is a match-by-match plan. If we can continue in this way, it will help us in the future. The team management wants the players to have an aggressive mentality. I think we are playing really well in all three departments."
Talukdar said that he has followed his natural style for a long time, and the team management also told him to remain his own man in his comeback after seven years. He was one of the top scorers in this season's BPL, which led to his recall.
"I have nothing to lose. I have always followed this pattern of playing cricket. I play positively. The team management told me to play my natural game since they saw me playing in the BPL this season. They told me to do the same thing I did in the BPL. They have given me encouragement so I no longer have fear [of getting dropped]."
Talukdar credited Litton too for batting in a manner that made his job easier, be it by playing big shots or picking up quick singles.
"Litton is Bangladesh's main batter; I enjoy batting with him," Talukdar said. "He bats in such a way that you don't realise how the runs have come. I am just staring at his batting. There's something to learn from him. I always want my batting partner to be as aggressive as I am. It makes life easier for both batters. It is important for playing a long innings.
"We try to rotate the strike all the time. Strike rotation in any format releases the pressure on the batter. We tried to take at least a run off every ball. It is possible if you have a positive intent. We are trying to play proper cricketing shots all the time. We didn't set a target. We wanted to play every ball by its merit."