Mustafiz eyeing to shine in the battle of unpredictables
Mustafizur Rahman
||Desk Report||
Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman looks to be well aware of their unpredictable opponent – Pakistan in the unofficial semi-final of Asia Cup that is scheduled next Wednesday (September 26) through tournament’s last Super Four match, but added they can be equally devastating on their day.
Mustafiz successfully defended eight runs in the final over to help Bangladesh overcome a psychological barrier over Afghanistan and earned a pulsating three-run win in their Asia Cup tie in Abu Dhabi.
The result also ensured the early exit of Afghanistan as both Bangladesh and Pakistan earned victory against them and standing on equal points with one game to go.
“Pakistan is very unpredictable team, more like Chris Gayle,” Mustafiz told reporters at United Arab Emirates after the nail biting win.
“When Chris Gayle plays, no one can stop him and so is Pakistan. They don’t let the opposition stand on their day.
“But same goes for us too. Let’s see what happens,” said Mustafiz.
Mustafizur said that he felt motivated during Bangladesh’s thrilling final-over win against Afghanistan once skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza reminded him of team’s past failures in similar situations. Very few had placed their bet in favor of Bangladesh once the game turned to last over with Afghanistan needing just eight runs and having four wickets in hand.
Bangladesh suffered some heartbreaking defeats in a similar situation, especially when they batted second, in the recent past.
In June this year, they were unable to score nine runs in the last over against the same opposition during a T20I in Dehradun, India.
The tragedy was repeated against West Indies in July during the second one-day international in Guyana when Bangladesh failed to score eight runs in the final over.
The near-failures kept hurting Bangladesh players, something which was also reflected in the words of Man-of-the-Match Mahmudullah Riyad in the post-match press conference.
“Eight runs were needed in the last over. Mashrafe Bhai was telling we lost many times being unable to score 8-9 runs in the final over. You win it for us today. I felt motivated when he was saying this,” Mustafiz told reporters in Dubai.
Mustafiz was struggling with cramp in the harsh conditions but that could not hinder him from doing his job in the field by flummoxing opponents.
