Fahim’s ‘different Mushfiqur’ emerges
"I firmly believe, you will see a different Mushfiqur [Rahim] in this series and he will return amongst runs with big scores." It was on the opening day's play of the Chattogram Test when the 'Guru' of Bangladesh batting stalwarts -- Nazmul Abedeen Fahim -- made the prophecy about one of his favourite students, with whom he had a special session before the start of the series.
The 35-year-old Mushfiqur proved his mentor's words of wisdom true in every possible way as the right-hander looked determined to leave his lean patch behind and restore his 'Mr. Dependable' status with a well-composed hundred on the fourth day at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.
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Fahim was delighted to see the batter score a century and also become the first Bangladeshi batter to reach 5000 runs in Tests. "Big milestone, no doubt about it," an excited Fahim said.
Responding to a question about what he meant when he said 'a different Mushfiqur' would be seen in this series, the veteran coach said: "He batted very defensively and this kind of batting is very tough. He was so confident with his defence as he didn't play any rash shots. He looked as confident as if he knew that he had everything under control and nobody would be able to dismiss him. He had proper control over his batting."
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"He has developed some skills now. He had some skill-related problems before. If you just watch his entire innings, you would notice that he scored ample runs through the cover region which was not the case before. Hardly any ball hit his pad. He negotiated almost all the deliveries by middling those. He played comfortably and also did very well technically as well," he continued.
Mushfiqur, playing his 81st Test, nudged an Asitha Fernando delivery for a boundary towards the fine leg to bring up his eighth century in Test cricket. His 105-run knock off 282 deliveries, which featured only four boundaries, ended when the batter swept a Lasith Embuldeniya delivery but was unable to get any bat on it, getting bowled around his legs.
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Fahim believes that it's just a new beginning for Mushfiqur. "I was always scared about his batting in the recent past as he looked so vulnerable that it felt like he would get out. But now I see a big difference. I believe now he will play good cricket because he identified his problems. He overcame the mental barriers and his contributions in the middle order will be a huge boost for the team."
The veteran coach, however, said that the 36 average of Mushfiqur is hardly a reflection of his true capabilities.
"Mushfiqur's current average hardly reflects his calibre as a batter. Now he could understand the flaws in his batting and has gotten a hold of everything. I only hope that he scores at least at a 45 average in the remaining matches of his career."