Memories embolden Mushy
When Mushfiqur Rahim came to his home venue of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday to train for the second and final Test against Sri Lankan starting tomorrow, he was perhaps not the same man that he was even 48 hours ago.
The joy of fatherhood was manifest in the smiling face of the 30-year-old former Bangladesh Test captain, who was blessed with his first child on Monday.
After the very auspicious development in his personal life, Mushfiqur also provided very encouraging news for the home fans when he stated: "We have a very good opportunity to win the series 1-0."
During a press conference, he drew inspiration from two memories to support his hopes of winning the second Test: the first is their fine performance in the first Test in Chittagong which delivered, according to Mushfiqur, a confidence-boosting draw; and the second is the fact that they won their last two Tests, against Australia and England, in Mirpur.
Mushfiqur however also knew that if they want to repeat those successes, the wicket has to be different from the dead one at Chittagong to make sure the bowlers can get some help from the surface in the effort to take 20 wickets.
"For any Test team the bowling department is important. No matter how many runs you put on the board, the bowlers have to take 20 wickets to win the Test match. It wasn't easy in South Africa and then there was no extra help in Chittagong. It was not like the previous two Tests there.
"We are hoping the Mirpur wicket is going to be different. We believe in our bowlers. We have good memories in Dhaka against England and Australia, which will give us some confidence and we are also in good shape after that creditable draw in Chittagong," said Mushfiqur.
The former Test captain also assured that the home batsmen will not face too many problems if the Mirpur pitch does in fact offer something for the bowlers.
"I am no longer close to the team management but it wasn't too long ago that we had two good memories in Dhaka. If the bowlers get some help, let it be hard for the batsmen. We are capable of getting something out of it, which we showed on the fifth day of the Chittagong Test [when they lost just two wickets and scored 225 runs on the last day]. It will definitely give us some confidence," said a confident Mushfiqur when asked to give an idea about the Mirpur pitch.
"The wicket will be the same for both teams. We don't want to spend too much time thinking about it. The wickets on which we beat England and Australia weren't easy ones.
"Regardless of the wicket, we have to apply ourselves better. The batsmen did well in Chittagong, because of which we could draw the game," he added.
The premier Bangladesh batsman, who made 92 and two in the Chittagong Test, also promised to score more runs in the second Test.
"There's always pressure but as a captain, I was an automatic choice. Now as a top-order batsman, I have to perform. I tried to give my best in the last game. I was unlucky in the second innings, the ball wasn't that great. I will keep trying, and get more runs in the next game."