skipper mushfiqur rahim - Dhaka Mirror

Jubair in on coach, captain insistence

Admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 03:03:38 +0000

Selectors on Wednesday included leg-spinner Jubair Hossain in Bangladesh’s 14-man squad for one off Test against India following the recommendations of coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim. Having not played any competitive match for the last two months, Jubair was unlikely to make the cut but selectors said they were forced to rethink at the insistence of the duo.
‘We included Jubair at the recommendations of coach and captain,’ chief selector Faruk Ahmed told reporters at a press conference at Mirpur while announcing the squad.
‘After all they are the boss on the field and must have some plans with him in their mind.’
Hathurusinghe has always been vocal for the young leg-spinner ever since the leggie was spotted last year in a net session and later impressed during the home series against Zimbabwe.
Selectors ignored coach’s call to include the youngster for the World Cup but picked him for the Pakistan Tests, giving Hathurusinghe an option to use him only for the Sri Lankan himself to ignore the spinner this time.
Jubair was reportedly included in the playing XI of the second Test match against Pakistan but had to be rested for sustaining a ‘freakish’ ankle injury at the night before the game started.
The leg spinner was also ignored by local coaches in the domestic matches that left him having to satisfy with playing just one competitive game, the warm-up match against Pakistan in Fatullah during the last two months, where he picked 1-56 in eight overs.
His lack of competitive cricket means a risk was involved in picking him against India, who, by no means, are callow against slow bowling.
However, Faruk said he needs to be tested with India, one of the finest sides against spin, which can help them judge his talent.
‘Jubair should play in the Test match against India,’ said Faruk. ‘I think this is how we can see how good he is.’
The selectors otherwise kept the faith in the squad that lost to Pakistan 0-1 in the previous series.
Rubel Hossain is the only change from the defeated second Test after he recovered from a side injury and was cleared to bowl last week.
Rubel replaced injured Shahadat Hossain, who has been sidelined for at least six months after injuring his knee during the ill-fated second Test in Dhaka.
Batsman Liton Kumar Das, who was in the Twenty20 international and Test squad against Pakistan but did not play any game, also has been retained.
Faruk said Liton will provide the cover for Mushfiq, who is uncertain to play as a wicketkeeper.
‘Mushfiq’s batting is fine but we are not sure if he can do the wicketkeeping job as he has an injury,” he said.
‘If he cannot play as wicketkeeper, Liton will do the job.’
The only Test match of the series will be held in Fatullah, on the outskirt of capital Dhaka from June 10-14.
India are also scheduled to play three One-Day Internationals during the short tour.
SQUAD
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Sakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Somuya Sarkar, Litton Kumar Das, Shuvagata Hom, Abul Hasan, Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Shahid.

-With New Age input

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Sakib is the key, believes Mushfiq

Admin — Wed, 06 May 2015 03:23:55 +0000

Bangladesh’s ace-all-rounder Sakib al Hasan must come up with his best to help Tigers earn their maiden Test win against Pakistan, skipper Mushfiqur Rahim said on Tuesday. Tigers will take on Pakistan in the final match of the two-match Test series at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. Bangladesh achieved their maiden Test draw against Pakistan in the first match at Khulna and a win in this match will ensure them a historic series win.
‘I am looking forward to him [Sakib al Hasan],’ Mushfiq told reporters at the match venue.
‘If he can do exceptionally well then surely we can win this Test match,’ said Mushfiq.
Sakib had been the major contributor for the Tigers across all formats and his service had been crucial in most of the Test matches where they had done reasonably well or achieved victory.
But that had not been the case in the recent times as he was far from his best in the Test format.
If the hosts are to take 20 wickets and beat the visitors in the last Test then certainly he needs to pull up his socks to guide his team, especially in the bowling department, believed Mushfiq.
Without Sakib’s note-worthy performance it is thought to be extremely difficult much alike Pakistan, who are struggling due to the off-form of their ace-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
Pakistan had opted to ignore Ajmal in the opening Test match after his below-par performance failed to put an impact on the opponents during the shorter version matches earlier in the tour.
Though Sakib hardly have any chance of facing the same fate barring injury, it is high time that he comes up with his best, preciously in the bowling department.
Sakib picked only two wickets in his last two Test matches raising bit of a concern in the mind of Test skipper Mushfiq.
‘You can say it’s a bit of a concern,’ said Mushfiq.
‘Because he is our leading bowler it is expected that he will pick five or six wickets,’ said the skipper.
‘When he failed to do so, it seems that he could not deliver according to his reputations,’ he said.
Mushfiq added that he is optimistic regarding Sakib as the match is happening at SBNS.
Sakib had always been a major contributor in the venue for the Tigers.
In the 12 Test matches that he has played so far here, he picked 43 wickets and scored 956 runs with an average of 43.45.
Sakib managed to score altogether 2860 runs from 38 matches in his Test career.
In the last game against Pakistan at this venue, Sakib scored 150 runs and picked seven wickets that included his 144 runs in the first innings followed by 6-82 from 40.5 overs.
Though Bangladesh don’t require him to blaze with the bat as often as he used to do in the past considering the new-found depth in their batting they would want him to be taking the major role in the bowling department.
With Rubel Hossain being ruled out the responsibility lies even greater on the broad shoulder of the southpaw.
‘Sakib always had done well in Mirpur,’ said Mushfiq.
‘If he can to do what he did earlier in this venue then [it is possible],’ he said.

-With New Age input

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Mushfiq makes Ashraful’s day

Admin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:46:16 +0000

Suspended batsman Mohammad Ashraful received some moral support from national skipper Mushfiqur Rahim for his bold confession on Thursday
as he is trying hard to acclimatise to his new lifestyle.
Mushfiq seemed to have made the day for one of his close-to-the-heart national team-mates Ashraful with a text message that gave him the courage to reorganise his life.
‘Allah will be looking after you for being able to gather the courage to confess your guilt before you die,’ Mushfiq said in his short message.
‘Thanks for the honesty that you have shown and I hope that you will again return to the cricket field,’ added the message.
‘I was sad at the beginning when I saw the news on television for the first time,’ said Mushfiq, vowing his support for his embattled predecessor.
Bangladesh Cricket Board decided on Tuesday to suspend Ashraful from all sorts of cricket activities pending an ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit investigation on match-fixing allegations in the Bangladesh Premier League.
The executive members took the decision at an emergency meeting chaired by BCB president Nazmul Hasan considering Ashraful’s confession to the ACSU members about his involvement.
Ashraful broke down in tears in front of television cameras, drawing a lot of sympathy from the fans who argued that he should be pardoned for being a whistleblower in the entire issue.
The confession and subsequent suspension, however, changed his lifestyle completely, said his family members adding that he is now late in going to bed but rises early to say his morning prayers.
As he is not in a hurry to go to practice, Ashraful added a new habit to his daily routine and that is to go through the website of every major newspaper and online paper.
Ashraful also started giving more time to his business than ever at the restaurant Sichuan Garden he set up with a few other friends at Wari in the city.
His family members said Ashraful is encouraged by the volume of support he received from his fans and some other team-mates in his attempt to rebuild his life and now appears calm unlike the recent past.

-With New Age input

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Mushfiq rues captaincy error

Admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:40:05 +0000

The Bangladesh national cricket team returned home empty-handed on Tuesday from their just concluded tour of Zimbabwe despite being overwhelming
favourites as they failed to live upto expectations.
Bangladesh had to be content with drawing the Test and Twenty20 series while losing the one-day international series aggravated the agony of skipper Mushfiqur Rahim who suddenly announced his resignation from captaincy following Bangladesh’s 1-2 loss in the ODI series.
Mushfiqur’s resignation along with the Bangladesh Cricket Board president’s statement on the issue raised the possibility of an internal clash inside the team although the captain shrugged it off after the T20 series as well as regretting his act in the midst of the tour.
Earlier Mushfiq said that the resignation announcement was an emotional one and it was a mistake on his part to disclose the decision in the middle of the tour as he echoed the same sentiment while facing a volley of questions regarding the resignation issue upon his arrival.
‘I admit it was a mistake,’ Mushfiq told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
‘I should not have announced this decision in the middle of the tour. It was indeed an emotional decision. However I will talk with the board first and then take the final decision,’ said Mushfiq.
Mushfiqur’s tenure as captain had expired after the end of the tour of Zimbabwe.
However, the skipper denied the accusation of pointing to a lack of teamwork as the major reason behind their failure as BCB president Nazmul Hasan disclosed that Mushfiqur was unhappy with the teamwork which also hinted that there might be some internal feud within the team.
‘I told him (Nazmul) that we could not perform as a team. We had some plan for every game which we could not execute in the field. That is it,’ said Mushfiq.
Mushfiq added that the Tigers had to encounter a torrid time with the practice facilities in Zimbabwe making it difficult for them to fare to the best of their abilities but refused to use it as an excuse.
‘We faced a difficult time in Zimbabwe as we did not have receive proper support from Zimbabwe,’ said Mushfiq.
‘We did not get any net bowlers and overall, there were some other issues regarding hospitality,’ he said.
‘But I don’t want to use it as an excuse because eventually we played bad cricket,’ he added.
The diminutive skipper
revealed that the umpiring issue was also a note of concern as some bad decisions went against Bangladesh which turned some games on its head completely and it continued throughout the series.
‘Most of the decisions went against us that completely changed the complexion of some games,’ said Mushfiq.
‘Everyone saw what happened there. I do not deny that we had not committed any mistakes but
the umpires only compounded our woes,’ he commented.
Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen refused to be downcast with the overall outcome of the tour and he was at pains to state the positives.
‘It is definitely not a failure (the tour). We improved from the last series than Zimbabwe. The conditions were foreign to us. We won a test match overseas, which has not happened in a couple of years,’ said an upbeat Jurgensen.

-With New Age input

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Mushfiq oozes confidence

Admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 03:53:40 +0000

15-member Bangladesh squad depart for Zimbabwe
Bangladesh will look to cash in on the low confidence of the Zimbabwean cricketers after the Southern African country’s below-par performance against the West Indies recently,
said skipper Mushfiqur Rahim on Wednesday.
Bangladesh boarded for Zimbabwe to feature in a two-match Test series, beginning from April 17, along with three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals with the hope of changing their fortune.
‘The last series they (Zimbabwe) played against West Indies, they were beaten convincingly and that would certainly have an effect on their confidence and that’s a plus point for us,’ Mushfiq told reporters at the airport before boarding for the plane.
‘They are bound to be low on confidence. Even though they are playing at home, if you don’t perform well then your confidence is bound to suffer,’ said Mushfiq.
Zimbabwe, who have lost all of their six Test matches since their win over the Tigers on their return to Test cricket after six years in 2011, were beaten convincingly in their last tour of the Caribbean.
‘We have an opportunity to alter the result in Zimbabwe as we could not play well over there in the last series. We played well in Sri Lanka both individually and as a team and we are pretty confident of doing well there,’ said Mushfiq.
‘It is always difficult to play well against them and beat them at their own backyard but we are mentally and physically prepared,’ he added.
Mushfiq was satisfied with the squad, and with the inclusion of mercurial all-rounder Sakib al Hasan and dashing opener Tamim Iqbal, believes that the team has got the capacity to do well in the series.
‘I am happy with the squad and hopefully they will seek to deliver to their potential and realise that this tour is very important for us,’ said Mushfiq.
‘Obviously their (Sakib and Tamim) return will rub off on the team even if they don’t play. I welcome them and hope they will continue to perform as they did throughout their careers,’ added Mushfiq.
Sakib returned to the side after an injury lay off while Tamim is recovering well from his thumb injury.
The wicketkeeper-batsman urged the pace bowlers to pull up their socks as he feels that the wicket in Harare would suit the pacemen more than the spinners and expressed his hope that the five-day practice session there will aid their progress.
‘The Harare (Sports Club) track does not help the spinners. We have pace bowlers and if they can showcase their skill I am confident the Zimbabwean batsmen will face difficulties,’ said Mushfiq.
‘We were not given a good side to play against in the practice match so we decided to skip the match altogether and train for five days leading up to the Test match. If we can acclimatise with the weather and carry out the practice sessions as per our plan then it would be very useful,’ he added.
‘We are consistently performing in the last eighteen months across all three formats though we are yet to get everything right in the Twenty20s. But we are improving in the Tests and ODIs and now we have got lots of performers who can perform on their day. Hopefully they will continue to do so,’ said Mushfiq.
The 24-year old captain from Bogra also feels that Bangladesh has learnt to cope up with pressure, unlike before.
‘There is always pressure playing against Zimbabwe and Ireland. But it (pressure) increased much more when we played against Sri Lanka in the last tour as we did not have a good track record as well as missing some key players. So we have learned to handle pressure quite well during the last one year,’ added Mushfiq.
Regarding the lack of a practice game, the skipper confirmed that he was not disappointed rather he felt that it would help them to prepare well.
‘A practice match is always helpful but if you remember the last two series, we played the practice matches in an under-prepared wicket where our batsman struggled and definitely it had an effect on our players in the Test matches,’ added Mushfiq.
‘Unfortunately we could not train in the last few days but we needed rest as we played high-intensity cricket for the last one month. There were lots of injuries and the ones who were injured did a lot of practice among themselves in the last one month,’ he said.

-With New Age input

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Mushfiq wants Tigers to carry momentum in Zimbabwe

Admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:41:48 +0000

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

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