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‘Mushfiqur failed because he was trying to move away from his usual process’


Published : 06 Sep 2022 08:47 PM

Mushfiqur Rahim, who made his T20I debut in 2006 against Zimbabwe and played 102 matches for his country, scoring 1500 runs at an average 19.23 with six fifties, became the second senior cricketer after Tamim Iqbal to quit the shortest format.

Mushfiqur's place in T20s had been under scrutiny for quite some time now, considering the fact that he was unable to make valuable contributions in this format despite doing well in the other two. He had scored only two half-centuries since November 2019. During the same period when he was struggling in the shortest format, he averaged 54.81 in 15 Tests, which included three centuries and a double-hundred, while making 674 runs at an average of 42.12 in ODIs.

His poor run in the World Cup forced team management to drop him from the T20 series against Pakistan that followed at home, and that was probably the first indication that they were not thinking of him in their long-term plans. Mushfiqur reacted sharply to the axe, with a taunt towards the selectors to call a spade a spade, after they insisted that he was 'rested' rather than dropped, which saw him receive a show-cause notice from the BCB.

The team management then decided to rest him in the T20I series against Zimbabwe, which was a clear indication that he was not in their plans, but after they lost the series everything suddenly changed and he was included in the Asia Cup squad.

The team management even hinted that they might opt to open the innings with Mushfiqur in the Asia Cup, and the right-handed batsman decided to change his batting style in the nets ahead of the tournament, which suggested that he was keen to make necessary adjustment. It did not turn into reality as the team management went back to playing him in his favourite number-four spot.

However, he failed to shine with the bat, scoring 4 and 1 in the Asia Cup, and even fluffed a chance of Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis, which in turn proved costly. His childhood mentor Nazmul Abedin feels that he missed the T20Is bus because he was trying to move away from his usual process.

"Look I have seen him trying many shots in the nets before going to the Asia Cup and to be honest he was trying too hard and at times going out of his character to make sure he fulfills the demands of T20. This could have had an affect on his batting since he had his own pattern, and someone who moves away from his pattern is unlikely to succeed," Nazmul told Cricbuzz on Sunday (September 4).

"If I am a batsman and I always think that I have to score quickly, it will hardly work. If the ball is there to hit he will hit it on the back of his muscle memory that will dictate his action, but if he is predetermined to play a shot, it might backfire."

Rahim received huge criticism following his dismal performance. However, Cricbuzz learnt that there was no pressure from the team management over Mushfiqur to make an immediate call on his T20 future, though in reality he was given the impression that he was no longer in Bangladesh's World Cup plans with Liton Das, Yasir Ali and Nurul Hasan all set to return to the T20I squad for the upcoming tri-series and the following World Cup.

According to Nazmul his decision to quit from T20s could turn out to be a blessing in disguise considering that it could prolong his Test career.

"There are a lot of T20s around and if he gets rest, his Test and ODI career might prolong for one or two more years as he can focus there much more from batsmanship point of view. The things that were going on in the national dressing room (as far as his T20 career is concerned) didn't help at all. Definitely he was trying and was working hard in the last practice session to improve his strike rate and accelerate the run-rate.

 I feel he had done his part. He could not perform but whether the environment was there (for him) to perform is questionable."

Bangladesh will be hoping for Mushfiqur to be more successful in Tests and ODIs, as now there will be lesser pressure around. He certainly knows that better than anyone else.