It is not right to judge anyone by one or two innings: Hridoy at the Sylhet press conference

Given the chance to prove himself in Test cricket, Tawhid Hridoy seems to have answered his critics. Against the West Indies in the Sylhet Test, he played a record-breaking unbeaten innings of 242 runs for Bangladesh. And after that innings, facing the media in Sylhet on Sunday, he said that no cricketer should be judged by the performance of one or two innings.

Yet before this Test, there were no fewer questions about his ability and batting style in red-ball cricket. He had faced criticism in particular for his shot selection in the Mirpur Test. But in Hridoy's view, a cricketer should not be judged by the performance of one or two innings.

Hridoy sees the criticism of his batting quite naturally. He believes there is much to learn from criticism, but it has to come from the right perspective.

Facing the media in Sylhet on Sunday, he said, 'In your profession, or in any profession, you will face criticism. On the day I do well, you will say positive things. On the day I do badly, you will criticise me; that is only natural. But there is a lot to learn from criticism, if we think about it the right way.'

Hridoy's Test career, however, did not begin very well. On debut against Zimbabwe, he scored 3 and 9 in the two innings. Then, against the West Indies in the Mirpur Test, he scored 42 and a duck.

After scoring a total of 54 runs in four innings, questions were raised about his suitability for Test cricket. His batting style in particular came under criticism for playing attacking shots and getting out without considering the situation.

But in Sylhet, he answered those questions with the bat. He lifted the team from a struggling 184 for 7 in the first innings to 386, playing an unbeaten innings of 242 runs off 359 balls.

He broke Mushfiqur Rahim's record of 219 runs. He is now the owner of the highest individual innings in Bangladesh's Test history.

Even after playing such an innings, Hridoy said about criticism, 'It is not the case that you will perform regularly. One or two days will not go well; that is quite normal. It happens to every team in the world. It is never right to judge someone by looking at one or two days of performance. Of course, criticise us if we make mistakes. But not by looking at one or two innings. If the same mistake keeps happening repeatedly, then it is good to criticise.'

Hridoy also explained his aggressive batting mentality: 'Sometimes it is difficult to get out of a situation without a counter-attack. Before any team dominates us, we too should launch some counter-attack. But I try to play as the situation demands.'

Hridoy has answered the criticism with the bat. And at the press conference, he made it clear that consistency, not one or two innings, is the right measure of a cricketer.