Player of the match Mushfiqur Rahim appeared very relaxed in the post-match press conference after his vital contribution helped Bangladesh take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe yesterday.
Mushfiq’s fourth one-day hundred came at a crucial time for Bangladesh as the home side were in a spot of bother losing four wickets, but his 107 off 109 balls enabled the Tigers to reach 273/9, a total which proved to be more than enough in the end.
Prior to the series the wicketkeeper-batsman had a quiet time with the bat – in both international and domestic games – and scoring 81 in the warm-up game injected confidence in him, Mushfiq said.
Mushfiq is the leading run scorer for the Tigers in the ODIs this year with 718 runs in 16 games at an average of 55.23 including two hundreds.
“Yes, I wanted to play the practice match because I couldn’t score runs in the national league. So I needed match practice and I had requested the coach for the opportunity. After scoring runs in the practice match I got confidence. I realised that I just needed to spend some time on the wicket. Today (yesterday) I felt good in the middle early on and I realised that I could do well,” said Mushfiq.
“I couldn’t play as per my expectation in the last two series but still I tried to contribute. And today’s 100 felt good. I won’t say relief, but at this point of time I am on a different level of confidence. Overall, I thank God for giving me the chance to grab this opportunity,” he added.
Among the two big partnerships Mushfiq was involved in, the 28-year-old credited Sabbir Rahman for the support. The duo put on 119 for the fifth wicket where Sabbir also managed to score 57 off 58 deliveries.
Meanwhile, despite a dismal outing with the bat, Shakib al Hasan shone bright with the ball bagging his maiden five-wicket haul in the format. Captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza acknowledged the performances and said he expects these sort of contributions from the senior players in the team more often.
“Both have been key performers for Bangladesh ever since they started their careers and now they are more matured. As a captain you always expect your senior players to deliver which both Shakib and Mushfiq did today (yesterday). At the same time the young players will learn from them and enjoy the game, that’s how I want things to happen,” said Mashrafe.