‘Salute you Tigers’ – Mushfiqur Rahim welcomes Bangladesh U19 after World Cup triumph

Prior to the U19 World Cup final, Bangladesh were deemed as the underdogs with the odds heavily stacked against them. India were considered the favourites, being the four-time champions of the mega event. However, at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, the Junior Tigers came out firing on all cylinders. The team, captained by Akbar Ali, emerged victorious by three wickets (DLS Method).

After winning the toss and electing to field, their fast bowlers didn’t let complacency sneak in. Barring Shamim Hossain, every other bowler looked threatening. Some sharp pieces of fielding also led to a few dismissals. Yashasvi Jaiswal seemed to threaten them, scoring 88, but he fell prey to left-arm speedster Shoriful Islam. After his dismissal, the Indian innings completely fell apart.

Bangladesh U19 script history

In the end, Bangladesh bowled the Boys in Blue out for 177 inside the 50 overs. In their run-chase, Tigers got off to a flying start courtesy a strong opening wicket stand between Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon. But Ravi Bishnoi picked up four wickets in his first spell to put the Bangladesh team right back on to the back foot. Emon also developed cramps and walked off.

It was then that their skipper Akbar Ali rose to the occasion. He put his head down, knowing that the required rate was well within control. He didn’t mind playing a few dot balls as well. He stayed unbeaten until the very end and scored 43 runs. Rain halted play as well, but couldn’t stop Bangladesh. They tasted success in the very first final they played in a major ICC event.

Quite expectantly, their skipper and the other team members were over the moon following the achievement. After the victory, the home country is ready to welcome them with open arms. The team bus has also been designed to embrace the winners. Now Mushfiqur Rahim, one of the senior team’s veteran performers, have taken to Instagram to laud the Junior Tigers.

He uploaded a picture where he can be seen standing in front of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. He captioned the picture and wrote, “Salute you Tigers”

Here is Rahim’s post