It is not impossible for us to rise among top three teams in ODIs: Mushfiqur Rahim

Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim feels that it won’t take a lot of time for the Bangladesh team to earn a place in the top 3 of the ICC ODI rankings. Bangladesh, who are currently at No.7 achieved their best ranking of No.6 just before the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017. Rahim feels that the youngsters in the team will add big value to their limited-overs side which will help them overhaul the top sides.

He is one of the three Bangladesh players to aggregate 4000 runs in ODI cricket and his 176 ODI appearances for his country are the 2nd most behind Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza’s 177 ODIs. If everything goes well between Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) and Cricket Australia (CA), the Aussies will be touring Bangladesh for a two-match series, the first time in 11 years. Rahim feels this will be a good chance for them to improve and add a lot to their confidence.

“It is not impossible for us to rise among top three teams in ODIs if we could utilize our capabilities well. Young performers in the team must take their responsibility,” Mushfiqur Rahim was quoted by bdcrictime.

Australia series big opportunity for us

“It is a big opportunity for us. We are a totally different team comparing to the last time Australia visited Bangladesh. At least if they would come, they could surely watch the graph of our progress,” said the Bangladesh Test skipper. “We are confident. We will be able to do definitely well if we can maintain this level of confidence,” he added.

The Bangladesh’s rise in the rankings was a reflection of their winning streak at home between 2014 and 2016 where they won bilateral ODI series against India, South Africa, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan before going down 1-2 against England. Their success wasn’t limited to home as they drew series in Sri Lanka, made it to the quarters of 2015 CWC hosted by Australian continent and to the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy though they had a bit of help from rain.