Shakib goes for a scan

Bangladesh Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan said that he was very demanding of the players for the Test series against West Indies and adding that the squad had a different kind of motivation to perform well.

The ace all-rounder was content with the key performers of the squad as Bangladesh completed a series sweep over the same opponents who had inflicted a similar result against the Tigers in July."Truth be told, I was very demanding of the players before the start of the series," the Test captain who earlier returned to the squad after an injury issue, remarked.

Shakib however said that it was not about replying to the 2-0 loss in the away series in July but felt that the players were more eager to do well this time around.

"It wasn't about giving West Indies a good reply. Home advantage factors in greatly nowadays. They were able to take advantage there and we took advantage at our home. We had a lot to prove coming into this series and we were able to do that at least at home," he said.

Thankfully everyone gave what they had. Maybe someone may not be successful and some maybe very successful. But above all, everyone believed that they wanted to contribute to our collective success. They always do but there was a different kind of motivation this time around," the captain remarked on whether they felt the team replied in kind to the Windies after losing 2-0 away.

Shakib reiterated that it was Bangladesh's chance to prove themselves at home and said that the loss away had been disappointing.

"Those of us who were in West Indies did not expect that kind of [bad] performance. After losing that way we had a meeting and came back strongly in the ODI and T20 series. Since we did not do well in the Test series, it was our chance to prove ourselves at home. We wanted to do something so that people can atleast forget, or say that 'they were able to use their home advantage', that we could do as much was possible at home," the skipper concluded.

It is players like Shakib, the stalwarts in the side, who egg the Tigers on in the biggest platforms to get performances out of them. There have been special performances in this series with spinners like Taijul Islam, Mehedi Miraz and youngster performing incredibly while Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah Riyad played important innings with the bat. Above all, it was the collective force that made the series sweep possible and a demanding captain ensured that Tigers were motivated for the push. 

With arguably the two most important cricketers in Bangladesh – Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal – ruled out by the time they faced Pakistan in a do-or-die Asia Cup game on Wednesday, Bangladesh drew on wartime philosophy to emerge victorious against the odds.

"[Skipper] Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] bhai told us one thing and we talked about one thing: when at war, you don't look back," said player-of-the-match Mushfiqur Rahim after the 37-run win over the two-time champions at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. "So if you think 'I am going to war and I will try to play it safe', that won't work. 

"Either kill or be killed -- one or the other. So that was a huge inspiration, because when you are at war you don't look at who your captain is, who's there or not there."

Mushfiqur was at the centre of the conflict, rescuing the side from the precarious position of 12 for three after Bangladesh won the toss and lifting them to 239 all out with a magnificent 99, becoming the first Bangladesh batsman to be out one short of a century in international cricket.

Bangladesh's highest run-scorer Tamim had already gone back to Dhaka on September 18 with a left-hand fracture sustained in the tournament's opening game against Sri Lanka. Shakib, meanwhile, was ruled out of the match because of a flare-up of a lingering finger injury picked up in January this year. He was subsequently sent home and will undergo surgery in either Melbourne or New York in the near future. 

But the calamitous setbacks only brought out the warriors in the Tigers.  

"You have to fight 100 per cent with what you have. So we thought that if we give our 100 per cent without thinking about the result, then, God willing, we will win as the best team. There will come a time when I won't be there -- no one is there forever. The five of us [seniors Mashrafe, Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah Riyad] will not be there at one point but even then you have to go on. So this was the talk and everyone was pumped up from there." 

Before the start of the tournament Bangladesh players had been saying that their target was to win the Asia Cup with captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza getting the players together and telling them during session that the team was not going to the UAE just to make up the numbers.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who has been Tigers' saviour in more than one occasion in this tournament knows a thing or two about playing pressure matches against one of their biggest Asian rivals India, who have a certain mental edge over Bangladesh having beaten the Tigers in a closely-fought contest recently in the Nidahas Trophy final where Dinesh Karthik hit a six off the very last ball to clinch the three-nation tournament's final. Mushfiqur, having played many tight contests against India can gauge the level of pressure that accompanies crucial encounters like finals and knows that putting pressure on opposition players who are also 'human beings' can and will work to Bangladesh's advantage.

"Confidence is there although we haven't played our best yet, I feel, in the three departments.

"We have been struggling in the batting group in the top order. If we click there against India [it could make a difference] – and you know India are playing outstanding cricket in this tournament, but they are also human beings and they are bound to make mistakes," he said.

After yesterday's victory in the do-or-die in virtual semifinal game, Tigers are once again just a step away from realizing their dreams, having twice made the final in the last three editions of the tournament. The Asia Cup dream is once again possible and Tigers' batsman Mushfiqur reiterated that they have been working on their goal of reaching the final first.

"Of course it is possible [winning the Asia Cup] . People live in dream and hope. And this was our target before the Asia Cup, that we at least make the final. Then in the championship match if we play our best cricket, then what will happen will happen. Since we have worked this hard and come this far, we of course have a chance."

Tigers were outplayed by India in the last edition of the tournament which was a T20 tournament. However, Mushfiqur said that since Bangladesh have been able to win against India before, the task in front of them is not impossible.

"If we can play our best cricket, then beating India is not impossible – we've done it before. Maybe we have not done it as consistently as we would have liked," he concluded.