Mashrafee backs Mushfiqur despite costly error
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|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza backed Mushfiqur Rahim despite making a crucial blunder against New Zealand that helped Kane Williamson survive a run-out scare during the ongoing World Cup fixture at Oval on Wednesday.
‘’I don't think we need to go after Mushfiqur," Mashrafee told reporters at the post match media session after the game.
"He was also trying hard to get him out. That throw was straight, but as a keeper it was hard to know if it was straight or not. Suddenly the stumps hit his elbow, but it happens. Mushfiqur is a professional player. He knows how to handle all of this. It is not as if this was the first mistake in Mushfiqur's life. Every player makes mistakes.
The incident took place in the 12th over of the New Zealand innings when the Ross Taylor - Williamson partnership was at an embryonic stage. As the two batsmen got involved in a mix-up, Tamim Iqbal threw the ball from mid-on with Williamson still well short of the crease and almost given up.
But Mushfiqur took the ball in front of the stumps, with his feet behind, and tried to break the stumps. Straight away Tamim and Shakib reacted in a way that suggested they knew what had happened, while the rest of the stadium were cheering the big wicket. Williamson and Taylor went on to add 105 runs for the third wicket, that set New Zealand in the right path.
Mashrafe, said that he expects him to bounce back from it quickly and added that with the catches he had taken off Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme, Mushfiqur had already started to make amends.
"For example, in the last match Soumya dropped a catch, but he has caught many difficult ones before that. I think that it can happen with Mushfiqur, and that it may happen again is a normal thing. We are not here to blame anyone, we are here to give our best. Even after that, the catches that Mushfiqur took off Ross Taylor and Grandhomme, those could have been turning points,’’ he said.
