I had a lot of self-belief: Mushfiqur
Mushfiqur Rahim
||CF Correspondent||
Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim said that he is not concerned with his batting despite hitting a ton after 21 months. According to the 31-year-old, self-belief gave him the edge that was missing in his recent performances.
In the previous 23 innings since his century against India in February last year, Mushfiqur scored 694 runs at 31.55, including four fifties.
“I wasn’t in bad form in Tests, but yes, I wasn’t getting a big innings. I believed that it was around the corner. I knew that converting a fifty would ensure a big score. I had a lot of self-belief. I had my preparations in place. It was a tough innings on Mirpur’s unpredictable wicket,” said Mushfiqur.
Mushfiqur played an unbeaten innings of 219 runs after his mammoth 10-hour stay at the wicket to help his side declare the first innings at 522/7, their highest Test score against Zimbabwe. Taijul then earned them a breakthrough as the visitors ended the day scoring 25 runs for one wicket.
The wicketkeeper-batsman scored Bangladesh’s first-ever double-century in Tests back in 2013. The feat was later achieved by Tamim Iqbal (206) in 2015 and Shakib Al Hasan (217) in 2017 as Mushfiq’s name was pushed down to the third place on the highest individual scorers’ list of the country. However, he regained his place at the top with his innings against Zimbabwe on Monday (November 12).
Mushfiq said that he would rate this as his best knock so far if Bangladesh manage to win this match to draw level in the two-match series.
“If we can win this game, this innings will be on top of every other innings. We drew the Galle Test so the focus will be on winning this game. Galle was tough. We had to reply to their big first innings total.
“There was plenty of help for the bowlers on this wicket, and Zimbabwe were bowling well too. Both innings are different, and I will say that this was a good innings, not my best, because I played a lot of deliveries. I was also more compact,” he said.
The former Bangladesh skipper thanked his wife for inspiring him and expressed happiness over his first hundred at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
“I want to dedicate my innings to my wife. She inspired me in many ways, especially yesterday. It was also my first hundred in Mirpur so it is a happy occasion for me,” said Mushfiq.
