Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim was a satisfied man after the two-match Test series against New Zealand came to a disappointing end on Friday as incessant drizzle entirely washed out the fifth day’s play of the second Test. With the series drawn 0-0, the Bangladesh skipper expressed his contentment with his team’s performance citing the five-month gap since the last Test match as a potential stumbling block.
Bangladesh last played a five-day game against Zimbabwe at their backyard in April this year.
‘If you take the whole series into account, we did well,’ Mushfiq told reporters at the post-match briefing at Mirpur on Friday.
‘We wanted to play well in the beginning and play consistently thereafter. It was not easy because we were playing Test cricket after five-six months.
‘We did not get the chance to play any longer-version cricket so it was definitely a challenge and the way my players performed and took up the opportunity to play under pressure is a good sign.
‘We could not do everything as we had wanted and could not dominate in certain areas but at the end of the day the way we have drawn the two Tests are an achievement,’ said Mushfiq.
A number of players came to the fore and rose to the occasion in different moments of the two Test matches, that, admitted Mushfiq, provided him with the ultimate source of pleasure as a captain.
‘I have always said that there are a lot of performers in our team and they are more mature now so I hope they will perform in the same manner in the future,’ said the 25-year old skipper.
Mushfiq insisted that in order to improve their fortunes in the longer-version format, the Tigers must now be presented with more Test matches.
‘Hopefully in the future we will win Test matches but more importantly we must have the opportunity to play Test cricket more,’ he said.
‘I ask, whoever is related with this issue, to give us the opportunity to play Test matches. Whether we fare good or bad is a question for
another day but if we cannot play Tests, how can a player like Mominul [Haque] score a hundred or [Sohag] Gazi take six wickets?’ asked an emotional Mushfiq.
‘Hopefully in the future we will play more Test matches so that we can show that Bangladesh is improving day by day,’ he added.
Coach Shane Jurgensen echoed the same sentiment and said that he was happy with his unit.
‘I think both teams will be happy with the drawn series but we would have liked to go one step further. This Test could have been the opportunity that we missed out on but I am very proud,’ said the Australian.
‘I see this as an improvement because when I came in as head coach against West Indies last year [in November] we played well in one match and probably not the same in the second,’ he added.
Bangladesh had lost both the Test matches against West Indies, by margins of 77 runs and 10 wickets in the first and second Test respectively.
-With New Age input
