Mushy aware of Afghan threat

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim looks at the ICC World Twenty20 trophy while attending a press conference at Mirpur yesterday. The mega event kicks off on March 16. Photo: Star

As Bangladesh is getting ready for hosting the biggest ever international sporting event in its history, there would be no better time for Mushfiqur Rahim and co to regain their lost form. The 24-year-old, who'll be leading the Tigers into their second T20 World Cup, wants the hosts to start things over after a dreadful one month, which saw them lose their last nine limited-overs games.
"Although the results did not go our way, the process is in our hands and we are working on that. We are working hard and I hope that we can have a fresh start from the World Cup," said Mushfiqur in the first pre-tournament press conference at Mirpur yesterday.
"We are all excited. We want to show that we can take a completely different challenge altogether. Hopefully we can stop the tears and make Bangladeshis smile with our performance," he added.
The Tigers begin their campaign against Afghanistan on March 16. It will be a battle that the hosts will be cautious about, following their unexpected defeat to them in the Asia Cup. It's a game that the Afghans will be counting on too, as their captain Mohammad Nabi had put it at the end of the Asia Cup, "The Bangladeshis will be under pressure," and captain Mushfiqur is aware of that.
"Our first target will be to defeat Afghanistan and ensure our qualification to the next round. I am sure the Afghans will be under pressure as well, playing in such a huge tournament. And as for us, we will try to take our revenge.
"I think we are ahead of them in all aspects, but in a T20 game, anything can happen on the day. Also they did not face a team with some of our strong players -- Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza -- in it. The challenge for us will be to remain calm and execute our plans under pressure," said Mushfiqur.
Going into the mega event, the Tigers have a few injury worries and the team is waiting on the likes of Mashrafe and Shohag Gazi, who hurt themselves during the Asia Cup. While Mashrafe bowled five overs during training yesterday, Shohag got the stitches removed from his hand and is expected to join training today.
The skipper, who injured his finger during the Sri Lanka series, will begin keeping wickets from today during practice and hopes to recover completely ahead of the crucial game against Afghanistan.
The captain's optimism and Bangladesh's track record in T20 World Cups however paint different pictures. The Tigers have only won one game in the mega events -- against the West Indies, back in 2007. It's an aspect that the captain wants to improve on.
"Yes we have not played that consistently, but a reason behind that is that we have not played too many T20 games and that's why it's a bit difficult. The good part though is that in the last few months we played a few home tournaments and our players performed there.
"We may be down mentally, but this is not the first time that we are going through such a phase. The mental strength that we have now may not be a lot, but hopefully things will change with the start of the World Cup," hoped Mushfiqur.