The Bangladesh Cricket Board finally put an end to its controversial short-term policy regarding appointment of the national captain as the BCB on Wednesday extended Mushfiqur Rahim’s tenure until the 2015 ICC World Cup. And the decision must have pleased the 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman the most after he had blasted his last short-term appointment in July this year as a ‘very wrong’ concept, saying it simply hinders the process as far as setting long-term goals for the team is concerned.
“I feel honoured by the faith the board has shown in my ability to lead the Bangladesh team. This is also a fantastic opportunity for me to plan for the future with Shane [national team’s head coach Shane Jurgensen], the players and the rest of the management,” said Mushfiqur, who has been at the helm since September 2011, in his instant reaction.
Under the leadership of the little big man, Bangladesh showed significant improvement; they have especially demonstrated a lot of maturity in their performance during their last home series against New Zealand. He has led the team in 12 Tests, 24 ODIs and 15 Twenty20 Internationals where Bangladesh won one Test, 11 ODIs and six T20s.
And after getting his desired long-term appointment, Mushfiqur has targeted consistency.
“We have started to develop a better degree of consistency in recent times and I will try my heart and soul to maintain that positive vibe. I am confident that I will receive the full support of the players and the board in our continuous quest to improve,” said Mushfiqur, who had quit the captaincy in May this year after Bangladesh lost an ODI series in Zimbabwe, but later said that that decision was a mistake.
However, Mushfiqur’s biggest challenge would not only be to establish the Tigers’ reputation as a strong unit in the 50-overs version in the next World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand, but also to make sure that they are making steady progress in the longer-version of the game as well.
The captain however was well aware of the challenge ahead of the team.
“The path ahead is a challenging one but Insha-Allah we will reach our desired goals across all formats of the game,” said confident Mushfiqur.
-With The Daily Star input
