Mushfiqur Rahim: The ageless warrior brings some cheer for Bangladesh

The ever-smiling, pocket-sized Mushfiqur Rahim wears the tag of a legend of Bangladesh cricket rather lightly on his shoulders. In a career spanning over nearly two decades across all formats of the game, the 38-year-old has had several moments of personal glory – though the moments of team success had been hardly commensurate with it.

However, it was a different story at Rawalpindi on Sunday afternoon after Mushfiq played the architect-in-chief in a historic Test win over Pakistan with an epic 191 – a masterclass in Test batting. He may have missed out on what could have been a fourth double century in Tests, a record for a Bangladesh batter but the veteran will certainly take it in lieu of little bit of joy the Bangladesh Tigers were able to bring to a troubled nation.

‘’This is one of my finest (knocks) so far, because we haven’t done that well overseas. All the players prepared well in Pakistan and back home as well,’’ the Player of the Match said before going to dedicate his prize money to the flood victims in his country. With him and Shakib Al Hasan being the only survivors of a golden generation whose time is fast running out, Mushfiqur wanted to grab the opportunity of this two-Test away series with both hands.

As his country hogged international headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last four months, what went under the radar was the quiet manner in which Bangladesh went about their preparations for the Test series against a rival with whom their rivalry often spills over beyond the pitch. Even while their white ball team was busy playing in the T20 World Cup in the US and the West Indies, the Test squad went about their preparations and what’s more – Mushfiqur took time out for the first time in 16 years to play for Bangladesh A to prepare for the series.

He has now surpassed Tamim Iqbal as the owner of highest number of centuries overseas – five - but the significant thing to note here is that it was his first one after a gap of seven years. Mushfiqur’s technique and shot selection, alongwith his temperament to play the long innings has long distinguished him in the world stage but what separates him from some of his other compatriots is his hunger to succeed on the big stage despite being there and done that.

‘’Mushfiq bhai is a very dedicated individual,’’ gushed Mominul Haq, a younger teammate who chipped in with a half-century on third day of the Test when the visitors were fighting back. ‘’Whatever I will say about him will not be enough. He plays very differently than the rest of us. He bats every ball with a lot of care. It shows his vast experience. Watching him bat is a lesson in how he manages the innings with the rest of us.’’ 

Now that they are 1-0 up, Bangladesh have given themselves a chance of carving out a memorable Test series win. It was a rarity to see the Tigers, whose insipid batting performances in the longer format have often raised questions as they have received the Test status back in 2000, show some character.    

It was perhaps in the fitness of things that Mushfiqur led this batting resurgence, setting an example of how to build partnerships. He may have also laid out a blueprint for Bangladesh’s future successes where their quality spinners can strangle the opposition, however fancied they may be, provided they can bat out of their skins. 

This is something which only time can tell!