Sports Desk:

In a game that seemed to have flashes of recall from the India-Bangladesh World T20 contest in Bangalore, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah yet again found themselves in the middle in the closing stages of the chase.

Just that, this time, they managed to cross the line without a stutter and help the visitors to not only take a 1-nil lead in the series but also register their maiden win, in the format, against India.

Yet despite the momentous victory, the celebrations from Mushfiqur Rahim, the protagonist of Bangladesh’s chase, were sedate.

“Win is a win and we still have two matches. If we can win the series then we can celebrate,” Mushfiqur said after the game, adding that he’s learnt his lesson from the 2016 game. “Men can make mistakes. As long as you’re learning from your mistakes, that’s the most important part. And after that incident [in Bangalore WCT20] I was closing games in T20s and also in ODIs. So that gives me lot of confidence.

“We knew what we had to do in that situation rather than doing things I did in the past. I had a chat before the start of the 20th over. We knew and we are clear. And after a couple of years, me and Riyad finishing off the game, it feels really great,” he added. “World Cup match and bilateral series are different. To play against such a strong team like India, you will like to present your best team. We never won against them (in T20Is) before. This could have happened later. I am happy that we could make this happen [now]. We had this belief.”

Even as it was only a modest 149 to chase, the sticky nature of the wicket had made the challenge tricky. Liton Das fell early but Soumya Sarkar stitched two handy partnerships, in company of debutant Mohammad Naim and the veteran Mushfiqur, of 48 and 60 runs respectively, to keep the visitors steady in the chase. By the time he departed, in the last ball of the 17th over, the requirements had come to 35 in 18 balls – a stiff ask given that boundaries weren’t easy to come.

However, Mushfiqur, who had settled in well till then, helped Bangladesh to a couple of big overs and brought down the ask to only 4 off the final over, before crossing the line. Explaining the plan behind the run chase, the ‘keeper-bat said, “Batsmen understand the situation more from the pitch, more than anyone from the dugout. So when a batsman is in, he knows what the difficulties there are. So I had chat with myself and also with Soumya, if one of the set batsmen stays till 19th and if still we lose the game, we can bear it but at least we would be taking the game in deep.

“Last two overs, we can take 20-25 runs. And we knew they would try with seamers, which was a bit easier than hitting the spinners. We stuck to our game plan and it worked. It can happen to any player when you play in the same condition in previous occasions and you have an experience of playing for 10-15 years. I won matches staying in the wickets previously, so it also gave me lots of confidence while we also learned from our mistakes.”

Mushfiqur added that he is happy with the result also because more than just a win, it helped give the team something to cheer about after a few hectic weeks, wherein the lead up to the series was anything but ideal.

Bangladesh cricketers had called for a strike putting their 13-points demands on October 21 and only called it off after assurances from the BCB boss who promised to fulfill most of their demands. And just when the crisis looked to be over with resumption of cricket, their ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan received a two-year ban for failing to report corrupt approaches.

“In my 15-year career, the last two-three weeks were the toughest. No one expects such a situation, whether it’s family or cricket. No one would want it,” he said. “Before I left Bangladesh, I said everything can come on the right track if we win some matches and that’s what we have done.

“We came here to compete in each and every game. But as long as you are playing consistent cricket and improving day by day, that’s our main goal.”

He further added that result has proved that Bangladesh are a strong side even without the presence of their biggest players. “Shakib is a very big cricketer for us. We always miss him. Tamim is also a very big part. They have won many matches single-handedly. We always miss them. But it is also a sign that Bangladesh can win without them. Even without me or Riyad, I believe Bangladesh can perform.

“We were underdogs when we came here. As we had nothing to lose we played with a free mind and that helped us play fearless cricket. But personally I think we can improve in a couple of areas. Because in the last two overs, we gave way some easy boundaries. So if we improve in those areas and play better, there is nothing impossible,” he concluded.