Win shows Bangladesh's character: Mushfiqur

Abu Dhabi - Tigers outplay Pakistan by 37 runs to make final of Asia Cup against India

Bangladesh lost two top names - Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan - to injury. Still a fairly young and inexperienced side pulled off a stunning victory over Pakistan. Player of the Match Mushfiqur Rahim, for his 116-ball 99 runs, said the encounter displayed the true character of the boys and their mindset which is positive.

With a final spot at stake, it was a high-pressure game but Bangladesh players were cool about it.

"It isn't special to play against Pakistan or any team. It was just another match of cricket and we treated it like that. All the boys were spirited as it was a chance to enter the final for the third time," Mushfiqur highlighted the facets of a self-motivated side.

Mushfiqur has scored six ODI centuries and 30 fifties but rated his 99 runs among his top five knocks.

Bangladesh were reduced to 12 for 3. The blistering innings by Mushfiqur and his 144-run partnership with Mohammad Mithun were the cornerstone of the 37-run win.

"We needed one partnership badly at that time. The wicket was pretty good to bat on and we knew that with the quality Pakistan had with the new ball we might lose a couple of early wickets. But the way we bounced back was very important."

He has, however, no qualms on missing out on a century.

"To be honest after winning the match I don't feel that bad. I believe that team comes first. If I had scored a century and taken our team to 260 runs but lost the match then I would have felt very sad."

Mushfiqur said when players like Tamim and Shakib are not available; seniors should take the onus and play long innings.

"When you have played nearly 200 matches for your country, you should score in every two out of three matches. This is what we have to do if we want to improve as a team."

Mushfiqur said when a player is in good touch, he should make it count.

"I tried my level best in this competition. And more matches the youngsters play, they will understand these things," Mushfiqur added.

Mushfiqur is glad to see Mithun come good after three failures of 1, 9 and 2 runs.

"He played very well in the first game (scoring 63 against Sri Lanka) and was under pressure in the next couple of games but the way he backed himself was great from a young cricketer. The plan was to just knock the ball around in the first couple of overs because we knew that after losing three wickets, Pakistan would be charged up against us. So we coped with the pressure really well in the first part and in the latter part we carried on with the run rate."

However Mushfiqur felt it was a 260-run wicket and noted early wickets was key to Bangladesh defending a total of 239 runs. And bowlers pushed Pakistan to 18 for three runs.

"Our score was not at par but a competitive one. The boys stuck to their basics and bowlers did a great job, especially Mustafizur Rahman bowled really well. We all know that he is a champion but the more he is consistent the better for our team," he said.

"The win shows the character of the team."

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Asia Cup 2019