Mithun brings a lot of positivity: Mushfiq
||Desk Report||
Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim thinks that the positivity brought by Mohammad Mithun is something that has been making his job easier in the ongoing Asia Cup.
Mushfiqur and Mithun put up another rearguard action as they added 144 runs for the fourth wicket against Pakistan in a Super Four clash of the Asia Cup, repeating their heroics of another 131-run third-wicket stand against Sri Lanka in the tournament-opener.
“He is a very positive guy and so I can't tell him to play for the dot balls,” Mushfiqur told reporters about Mithun’s positive mindset.
“I told him to back himself and make sure that in the first five-six overs, we just assess the situation, don't worry about the run rate.
“We have from the 11th till 40th overs with one fielder up, and you can easily target one bowler and you can easily have some boundaries over there.
“I think the wicket was a pretty good one, so no need to take any undue risks. He complemented me very well and I really enjoyed the way I talked with him and batted with him both times,” he said.
On both occasions Bangladesh were in dire straits before the two former student of BKSP made sure that they guided the Tigers to a respectable total.
Just when a permanent place in Bangladesh's ODI team seemed unobtainable, wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun received a lifeline when he was named in the 15-man squad for the Asia Cup in the UAE. Mithun, 28, who was in and out of the national team for a while, now hopes to make things good with this fresh lease of life that has been offered to him.
In fact, Mithun's inclusion in the Asia Cup squad is a recognition of his fine run of form during the Bangladesh A team's recent tour of Ireland, which he began with a duck but ended with three solid half-centuries. Apart from his performances, luck also played a big part in his reinstatement to the ODI squad due to the vacancy created by Sabbir Rahman's disciplinary ban.
Mithun – who despite making his debut in 2014, played his third ODI in January this year – is unlikely to get his preferred position at the top of the batting order with Liton Das in pole position to open with Tamim Iqbal. But his form-improvement with each passing game in the competition could serve him well in the jostle for middle-order places.
National selectors were desperately looking for someone to replace Sabbir, who continues to struggle with off-field issues, as well as on-field performances. And emerging as a dependable batsman, Mithun is expected to solve that problem.
