Mushfiqur Rahim faced some harsh criticism for his refusal to light the candles at the team hotel in Hambantota where Bangladesh played the first two one-dayers of the series.
\nIt can be debated if the criticism is fair or not as Mushfiq has some valid reasons to speak for him. He was exhausted after a six-hour bus journey and was also upset by the loss of some of his personal belongings.
\nThe moment he checked in at the Udawalawe Grand Safari Resort, Mushfiq realised he had left his bag at the Colombo hotel. The bag had his dollars and some other important documents, so Mushfiq was really concerned.
\nSri Lanka cricket team, who later joined the Tigers at the same hotel, carried the bag with them to remove his concern but some damages had already been done with his ambassadorial role being questioned.
\nSo when he was again invited to light the candles at Mahaweli Reach Hotel in Kandy on Thursday night he could not refuse it. He was still a tired man after an intense game and some other off-the-field activities, but the occasion made him really jovial.
\nThe hotel authority arranged the candlelit dinner to celebrate Bangladesh\u2019s win over Sri Lanka and like Mushfiq every Bangladeshi player joined the party spontaneously at the dead of night.
\nThe celebration of Bangladesh\u2019s series equalling three-wicket win was limited to this small programme as they quickly put their attention on the job ahead, the one-off Twenty20 International on March 31.
\nBangladesh also celebrated it in their traditional way at the dressing room where the players sang \u2018aamra korbo joy\u2019 (we shall win), a song that has long been hailed as the victory song of the Tigers.
\nMushfiq gave a long speech in the dressing room once the celebration was
\nover as part of another tradition at the end of every international series. Insiders said Mushfiq showered Abdur Razzak and Nasir Hossain with praises in his speech for their match-winning contributions in the third match.
\nMushfiq hailed the duo earlier at his post-match press conference also.
\nRazzak grabbed 5-62 to stop Sri Lanka\u2019s run flow and become the first Bangladeshi to take 200 wickets in one-day internationals. Nasir played a cameo of 33 runs from 26 balls in a tricky chase that could have easily gone awry.
\n\u2018I congratulate Razzak bhai for becoming the first bowler from Bangladesh to take 200 ODI wickets,\u2019 Mushfiq said in the press conference. \u2018He is a tough guy, and he can bowl at the top and at the end so well. Sometimes bowlers feel uncomfortable in certain situations, but he has never said no to me.\u2019
\nThe reason for Mushfiq to feel indebted to Razzak is perhaps the current state of Bangladesh\u2019s bowling. With no quality pacer around and Sakib al Hasan absent injured, Razzak had to shoulder the maximum burden and he did it without any fuss.
\nThe lack of depth in bowling was another reason for Mushfiq to hail the three-wicket win is Bangladesh\u2019s biggest ever abroad. Bangladesh defeated Australia and England in England, South Africa and India in West Indies, but never were they so much depleted like this series.
\n\u2018You know we have lost some of our key players to injuries, so it was a great challenge and the pressure was there but we still won the match to draw the series which I think is the biggest win against a major team abroad,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

-With New Age<\/span> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mushfiqur Rahim faced some harsh criticism for his refusal to light the candles at the team hotel in Hambantota where Bangladesh played the first two one-dayers of the series. It can be debated if the criticism is fair or not as Mushfiq has some valid reasons to speak for him. He was exhausted after a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1105,1047,1030,1109],"yoast_head":"\n