Mushfiqur Rahim hails the impact Haturusingha and Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim will go down in history as the first Bangladesh skipper to complete a win against an England side. Although one can certainly make the case for the fact that the wicket was in their favor, the Bangladesh players certainly made a case for themselves with some grit and fight ensuring that the series was eventually squared.

Mushfiqur revealed that Chandika Haturusingha, the coach had a moment of anguish and fury that the bowlers were not able to make things work for them. He also added the impact of the pep-talk Tamim Iqbal had on the team during that particular break.

“During the tea break, the coach was angry towards the players, which was obvious as we were not able to execute our plans in the middle,” Mushfiqur told the Dhaka Tribune. “The bowlers also struggled to execute. We had a group chat comprising all the senior players and the coach. He told the senior players to step up and take the responsibility. We were given some roles. Tamim was standing at mid-off so that he could help the bowlers closely.

He also added the role played in by the close-in fielders Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah Riyad in the same.

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“To add to that, close-in fielders like Mominul [Haque] and Mahmudullah Riyad bhai, they were also given roles to distract the batsmen. Shakib and Miraz meanwhile, were given roles as bowlers so that they could get the breakthroughs. With the combination of everyone’s effort, we were able to win the match.”

“Coach always tells us, whoever has the ball in his hand, he is the captain at that time as only he knows how and what to do in that particular situation and what is the plan,” he said.

“So, all the 11 players in the team always try to follow that and whatever message we receive from the coach, we discuss and try to implement that on the field. Especially us, the four senior members of the team, were given instructions to lead from the front and fulfill the responsibilities.”

The Bangladesh skipper also added the enjoyment he is facing at the moment across all formats. “I think I am enjoying all the three roles at the moment,” Mushfiqur said. “If you notice, wicketkeeping has always been my first priority. I have scored a double-hundred in Tests and also kept wickets in the same game. There is always a soft corner for it (keeping).

“But if the team management and the board decide that they might get the best outcome by picking someone else and approach me, then I will have to think about it. I will decide which will help my team as we all are part of the team.”

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