'People compare me to Don Bradman' - Mushfiqur Rahim after slamming glorious ton against Sri Lanka

Bangladesh’s sensational batter Mushfiqur Rahim made a passionate, which is being called exaggerated, speech during the press conference after the conclusion of the fourth day’s play against Sri Lanka. His emotional speech came after he scored his eighth Test century, thereby becoming the first Bangladeshi player to reach 5000 Test runs.

After Bangladesh’s bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 397 runs in the first innings, a brilliant performance from Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur helped Bangladesh take a lead in the game. Rahim put up a composed century as he battled his way through the Sri Lankan bowling unit to keep his team going. At the end of the day’s play, Mushfiqur made some controversial statements, stating experience has no value in his nation.

“I think there’s no value for experience in Bangladesh. It is a huge deal to have played for 17 years. Allah has written what awaits me, and I want to perform that much well. It is a great feeling to become the first Bangladeshi to reach 5,000 Test runs. But I am sure I am not the last one. There’ll be a lot of capable players among our seniors and juniors who can reach 8,000 or 10,000 runs,” Mushfiqur was quoted by Cricbuzz.

In the 18 innings after his double hundred against Zimbabwe in 2020, Mushfiqur had failed to achieve the three-digit mark. The only occasion he came near was against Pakistan in 2021, when he scored 91. Since then, he has registered only one 50+ score that came up against South Africa in their recent series.

When I don’t score runs, I feel like digging a hole for myself: Rahim

The wicketkeeper-batter said that in his country, a player receives appreciation only if he performs well. He revealed that he has been compared to Australian batting legend Don Bradman whenever he has hit a century. But whenever he has failed to put up a good score, it has been like a nightmare for him.

“Only in Bangladesh, I have seen that people compare me to Bradman when I score a century, but then when I don’t score runs, I feel like digging a hole for myself. I am one of the senior players so we are not going to be around for long. But this is becoming a culture, so the younger players need the support. If I have to spend so much time tackling these things off the field, our on-field duties get affected,” he stated.