Rajshahi cricket team’s mentor Khaled Mashud attributed the unity between the players and the hunger for success to their victories in four consecutive National Cricket League championships.
Rajshahi maintained their dominance in the country’s lone first-class cricket tournament by defeating Khulna by nine wickets in the final to take their fifth overall crown, and fourth in a row, a feat unmatched by any other sides.
‘We are very united and have the hunger to win. That is the main difference between us and the others,’ Mashud told reporters after the final at Mirpur on Saturday.
‘Whenever the players are called they come to practise if they are available. Winning is a habit and I am glad that we are developing it,’ said Mashud.
‘Our success proves that if you are working hard and can be provided with a good infrastructure back home any team can reach its goal ,’ he said.
Mashud said that after they had lost a few of their top players to Rangpur, the stubbornness increased among the players to prove their worth.
‘A lot of people said that our team will not be as good as it was because we lost some players to Rangpur,’ said Mashud.
‘I guess that brought out the best in us as we were eager to show our potentials,’ said Mashud.
Rangpur, which spilt off from Rajshahi division, joined the competition this season, with bulk of their sides coming from the squad that led Rajshahi to glory in the past three seasons.
All-rounder Naeem Islam, wicketkeeper Dhiman
Ghosh and left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo are a few to name who left Rajshahi to play for Rangpur only to finish sixth in the competition.
Mashud, who was a playing member of Rajshahi in the previous 12 editions and took the role of a mentor this season, said their regular presence in the final match has now become a psychological barrier for the other sides.
‘As we have become a potential force in the NCL other teams have a mental pressure when they take on us in the final. We were determined to play the final,’ he said.
Mashud added that moving above Dhaka in the overall charts was extremely satisfying and played as a motivational factor when they took to the field at the start of the season.
Before this tournament both Dhaka and Rajahahi had won the title for four times.
‘To supersede Dhaka was extremely satisfying and it was also an extra motivation for us to do well in the tournament,’ he added.
-With New Age input
