Both on field and off field the Bangladesh team was under pressure when they took to the field yesterday against India, and added to that was the absence of two key players Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim’s outburst in over the selection policy also hampered the atmosphere and the solution could have only come from the little man himself.
There was no one better than Mushfiq to answer the controversies of recent times and the Tigers skipper did just that by slamming his second ODI hundred that put Bangladesh in a strong position in their Asia Cup opener at Fatullah. His well-paced his innings of 117 from 113 balls under pressure did not let anyone in the stadium feel the vacuum of their two senior players.
Mushfiq milked the Indian bowlers to perfection. He took 37 balls to hit his first boundary and in total struck seven along with two well timed sixes, which explains how patient he was during his knock. Mushfiq added 133 runs for the third wicket with Anamul Haque, Bangladesh's highest for any wicket against India and the team's eighth 100-plus stand against them.
Mushfiq, who averages 26.92 in ODIs, came in to the match with an average of 33.42 in 10 outings against India and his brilliant century yesterday lifted it to 43.87.
India’s new captain Virat Kohli looked clueless against his counterpart as Mushfiq built his rhythm slowly before he got into the groove and clobbered the opposition bowlers, especially Varun Aaron. Mushfiq hit Aaron for two fours and a six in the 39th over and it seemed the right-arm fast bowler had no other option, but to hurt him to stop him.
Aaron’s second beamer, first was to Anamul, hit Mushfiq on his ribs which saw him immediately fall on the ground writhing in pain. Mushfiq took time but stood up again while the full house crowd chanted his name. He eventually landed his hundred in the 45th over when the Indians gifted him four overthrows. Mushfiq was finally dismissed in the last over having ensured Bangladesh reach a sizeable total.
Mushfiq also became the highest ODI scorer as a Bangladeshi captain beating Mohammad Ashraful's 109 against UAE in 2008.
