Mushfiq is a threat to the bowlers: Nazmul Abedin
||CF Correspondent||
Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal’s attitude in the opening game of the Asia Cup has been the talk of the town since the beginning of the tournament. While everyone praised Tamim’s courage, Mushfiqur’s never-say-die spirit also did not go unnoticed.
Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB’s) former game development manager Nazmul Abedin Fahim has recently heaped praise on Mushfiqur for his 144-knock against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup-opener. Nazmul thinks that the wicketkeeper-batsman has overcome certain mistakes and expanded his array of shots, which was key to his success in that match.
“Mushfiq has been in similar situations before. But there was a specific plan in this innings, he did not want to give away his wicket. He took time, and went for the runs at the right moment.
“A middle-order batsman can experience such collapses, but he has to stand firm and restore the innings. He [Mushfiq] did it and proved that he is no less than any other international cricketer.
“I hope he will take lessons from here and reflect it in his game. If Bangladesh suffer a collapse in the beginning, then we will have someone who can afford to build an innings from that situation.
“In such situations, many do not have the courage to stick to their plans. Despite having a plan, we play rush shots and end up losing our wickets. But there was no such practice in this innings. His shot-selections were perfect. And the best part was his patience; it was commendable.
“He used to play a pre-determined shot, towards mid-wicket. He lost his wicket many times in that manner. But in this innings I saw him playing slog shots, playing through the extra cover and cover. He has a wide range of shots at his disposal and he knows it. That is why it is difficult for the bowlers to bowl against him. Musfiqur is a threat to the bowlers,” said Nazmul, who is currently serving as BCB’s women’s cricket wing development manager.
Mohammad Mithun belted his first international century in the same match and helped Mushfiqur settle down by taking the onus of hitting the ball on himself. The 27-year-old made 63 before getting out by Lasith Malinga, but Bangladesh had dealt with the shaky start by then.
“Mithun has shown great courage. He didn’t play slowly. Mushfiq was playing slowly at the start, if he, too, played slowly, Sri Lanka would have had the chance to create more pressure. And Mushfiq was able to take enough time because Mithun played that innings. Otherwise, the pressure would come on Mushfiq. Mithun got us the momentum that we needed opening game of the Asia Cup.
“I am very happy with his knock. He has the ability to play big shots and we need that in the kind of cricket we are going to play. 250-260 is not winning-score. We need to make 290-300 runs, so we’ll need batsmen who can play big shots. If Mithun can perform responsibly in the middle-order, then it will be good for us,” said Nazmul.
