Mushfiq: Delighted at the way we bounced back

The Tigers levelled the two-match Test series 1-1 after beating the Lankans by four wickets in the second and final game at P Sara Oval in Colombo on Sunday and Mushfiq said he is extremely satisfied after their comeback from a 259-run loss in Galle. “What made me happy was how we understood the importance of the match. We tried to understand the value of a run, a misfield. Giving away runs in the first innings may not seem much at the time, but it comes back to hurt you at the end of the day,” Mushfiq told the media in the post-day press conference. “We tried to recognise these small things. The fact that we realised each and every bit of it was quite impressive. The batsmen and bowlers played with responsibility, which made it a happy moment for me,” he said. The wicketkeeper-batsman said even though they do not have many experiences of chasing successfully in the longer version of the game, they had the belief that they would triumph in their pursuit of the 191-run target. “I have never faced such a situation in Test cricket. It is new for us to chase on this type of wicket in the fifth day. We needed a fifty-plus opening stand, but Tamim [Iqbal] and Sabbir [Rahman] really made it easy for us with their 100-plus stand. But no opposition would let us have it easy. We had the belief in the end stages, even though, unfortunately, we lost Shakib [al Hasan]. We had Mosaddek [Hossain] and [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz, and we thought we could do it in singles,” Mushfiq explained. Regarding one of his decisions which was overturned after review, Mushfiq said, “I was a bit nervous when he (on-field umpire S Ravi of India) had given me out. I was a bit wary of taking the review as it might have been required by the rest of the batsmen. But it went well for us, and we got a lot of out this game. He continued, “There was no hot-spot or snickometre, so it is hard to comment on the DRS (Decision Review System). I would like to request the ICC to keep all the technologies available if there is DRS. We can play according to the spirit of the cricket in that case, and the work for the third umpire also becomes easier.”