A confident looking Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is expecting to settle the score with Zimbabwe in their forthcoming tour beginning from mid-April by taking forward the performance and consistency displayed by the team in the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka.
The national cricketers returned home from Sri Lanka on Tuesday with their heads high after performing incredibly against the mighty opponent at their own den to earn their first draw in a Test match against the Island nation and subsequently drawing the three-match one-day international series which ended 1-1.
Even though they lost the second Test match and in the process, the two-match Test series by 1-0, which was followed by a 17-run defeat in the lone Twenty20 International, they still managed to look competitive by regularly putting up decent displays despite losing some of their key players to injury.
Upon their arrival, the diminutive Mushfiq refused to bask in the glory of their recent achievements in Sri Lanka as he did not fail to recognise the importance of his next assignment against their nearest rivals in all three formats of the game.
‘How far we have improved as a team can be determined in Zimbabwe and we are ready to take up the challenge,’ Mushfiq told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
‘We don’t possess a good record in Harare and we even lost the last series there. It is our duty to change the result in the record books and we hope to do exactly that by taking forward the consistency that we had found in Sri Lanka,’ said Mushfiq, who along with his other team-mates were welcomed with flowers at the lobby by the officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Mushfiq added that the absence of some key players due to injury just before the series got underway only increased their determination to do well in Sri Lanka, more so after people started to doubt their ability to perform as a team without their illustrious national teammates.
Bangladesh were without their major star Sakib al Hasan due to his operation while pace bowler Mashrafee bin Murtaza did not feature in the ODI series after failing to recover from his ankle injury.
Tamim Iqbal only played the second Test match and the first one-day international before returning home after being ruled out with an injury on his thumb while fielding in the ODI series opener.
Injuries remained a serious concern for some of the national cricketers as several of them had to be replaced at the last moment after mostly aggravating their injury sustained during the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League.
‘People started to doubt about our ability as a team as some of the key players were missing and made statements that were quite disheartening. But it only increased our drive to succeed in Sri Lanka,’ said Mushfiq.
‘It also showed the amount of depth we possess in the reserve bench which is a very good sign,’ he added.
Mushfiq, who entered his name into the record books after scoring the country’s maiden double hundred in the first Test match, praised the effort of the youngsters in the team as well as hailing the endeavor put up by the most experienced campaigner Mohammad Ashraful who scripted a successful return to the national set up with his knock of 190 in the opening Test match.
‘I think it was one of the best innings played by him (Mohammad Ashraful). He was under huge pressure and fought back bravely that only proves his ability,’ added Mushfiq.
Ashraful, who was not even considered for the 25-member preliminary camp for the tour got included in the squad at the last moment by a stroke of luck after batsman Shahriar Nafees cut his hand while cleaning the bat with a blade and responded to the occasion by maneuvering a grand century followed by some decent scores.
‘It is a re-birth for me as I was out for a long time and done well on my return. I feel this was one of the best tour that I have played so far,’ said Ashraful.
The tour also provided the chance for the ever-go-lucky Nasir Hossain to stamp his class against a respectable opponent at their own backyard and he hardly failed to deliver by cracking his maiden Test century as well as guiding his side to a memorable win in the last ODI to level the series.
‘The first Test century is a big thing for anyone and I am very happy about it,’ said Nasir after being asked to single out his best innings in the series.
newagebd
-With New Age input
