After rain washed out the last day of the second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand to ensure a drawn series yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, captain Mushfiqur Rahim was upbeat at the how the team’s attitude had changed from playing for a draw to aiming for a win.
“We don’t play for a draw and it is for a win that we get down on the field. We had the same target but in Chittagong we played on such a wicket that we did not have enough time to take 20 wickets while here, almost one and a half days were lost to rain. Over all in the circumstances, played well but there are some areas where we can still improve. That said, they adapted very quickly and played well too,” Mushfiqur told the press at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Before the series, Mushfiq had declared the aim of winning the series but was satisfied with the result. “We wanted to play well through the whole series and be consistent,” he modified.
The wicket-keeper/batsman went on to express concern that Bangladesh were not playing enough Test cricket, while maintaining that the team was getting better by the day.
“We want to win Test matches but more importantly we must have the opportunity to play more Test cricket. I would like to request the concerned authorities to give us the opportunity to play more Test matches. There are many who says that we are not a good team but I ask you, if we are not a good Test side, how can a player like Mominul (Haque) score back to back hundreds? Or (Sohag) Gazi take six wickets? In future hopefully we will play more Test matches so that we can show that Bangladesh is improving day by day,” he said.
Before the series, Bangladesh had been inactive in Tests for six months since sharing a two game series in Zimbabwe 1-1. The captain was happy to see his side avoid a pitfall they have a reputation for falling into – collapsing in the second game after held steady in the first.
“After the first Test, it has often been the case that we could not carry on in the same vein. Though our batting did not click in the first innings in Dhaka, we proved our team is maturing in the second innings.
“The same player proved how determined and responsible they can be and that is a very good thing. I have always said that there are a lot of performers in our team now and they are more mature so I hope they will keep performing in the same manner,” he noted and hoped.
Bangladesh have now played 11 Test matches against New Zealand and this is the first time they have been able to draw a series. In all, the Tigers have drawn three matches against the Kiwis. “At the end of the day, we’ve drawn the two Tests and this is an achievement,” assessed Mushfiq, before adding, “But to be honest we could not do everything that we wanted and there are certain areas where we could not dominate.”
Looking ahead to the one day series, Mushfiq said, “There will be strategies in the one-day series too because we want to win it and for that to happen, we need to play our best cricket.”
