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Mushfiqur Rahim - Example of how Hardwork and Improvement leads to success.

When I was new to watching cricket, I recall Mushfiqur Rahim was always in the playing xi squad. There was a lot of hype about Shakib and Tamim, but rarely I heard about Mushfiq. All I know was he is in the nationa team only because he knows how to do wicket-keeping. And more than Mushfiq he was refered as Battoo by many. For some reason, even though Mushfiqur Rahim did not contribute much I really liked him from the start. Like the passion he had for Bangladesh team was obvious even though he did not do much. I remember how he was happy to stump out an opener in the Ban vs Eng match in 2011 WC.

But through his performance Mushy first caught my attention when he scored century against Zimbabwe, but unfortunately Bangladesh lost that match by just 5 runs resulting in the series loss since that was the decider. That’s when I felt Mushfiqur Rahim is one player who will go very far. The way he performed in that Zim match I just loved it. This was when Mushfiqur Rahim became my fav Bangladeshi player, he still is my favourite.

There was someone we could rely on besides Tamim and Shakib. Whenever Tamim and Shakib both failed, if there was someone we could rely on that was Mushy. And later there was Riyad too.

Even though Mushy continued winning hearts with his performance, his behaviour however was under the scanner many times . He was highly criticized for his premature celebration against India and ended up losing too, his tweet in WI vs IND semis,his naagin dance after winning against Sri Lanka, him trying to hit Nasum etc. Well, even if he is my fav I can’t defend him for such acts but what I feel is that all these he did was in immense excitement, his total focus was on the game and he has to win it somehow, and then he does such act. I hope he works on this and don’t do such actd again. His performance is not troll-worthy but he needs to control.

In Asia Cup 2018, his performance against Sri Lanka and Pakistan those were just extra ordinary. The weather condition and the absence of Shakib and Tamim, despite all these Rahim was there his performance guided the team to finals. In Nidahas Trophy 2018, who would have thought in the past that Bangladesh would actually chase a 200+ target in T20Is. Again Mushy did it, thanks to openers but it was still a lot left, and Mushy completed it in style.

There were many situation where Bangladesh needed someone to do the hard-hitting part, hit boundaries and sixes and bring the team home.There were 2 Bangladeshi players who would do this job and those were Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad.

Another thing that is really good about Rahim is that he can bat accordingly in all three formats. He is one of the very few Bangladeshi players who can do well in all three format.

In 2015 CWC and 2019 CWC Mahmudullah and Shakib scored the highest for Bangladesh respectively. Ironically Rahim was the 2nd highest run-scorers for Bangladeshi in both these tournamnents and he did his job well as a supporting role.

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Shakib Al Hasan - the one man ARMY !!

If I look at the best achievements of Bangladesh cricket, Shakib Al Hasan comes in my first row list. I believe as like Mahmullah Riad said ‘No joke being number 1 all-rounder for 10-12 years’ .

Even before I started watching cricket I kept on hearing Shakib is the best player, Shakib is this and Shakib is that. And I wondered who the hell is Shakib?! Then in 2011, when I started watching cricket then I eventually got to know oh so Shakib is the Bangladesh cricket captain! I kept on hearing stuff how he is the best player from Bangladesh, the no.1 allrounder and blah blah blah. So I thought this Shakib guy must be a really good player.

But when I saw his performances in 2011 world cup and on top of that he is the captain, I don’t get what was so special about him?! All he sounded to me was some overconfident dude who can just make big claims.

Then I saw IPL, and Shakib was playing for Shahrukh Khan’s KKR and the only Bangladeshi player who was playing in the IPL that time. I saw his performance and I got attached to KKR just because a Bangladeshi player was playing. I still wasn’t that fond of Shakib but I really liked watching his performance in the IPL back then.After losing with Zimbabwe, Shakib was sacked from captaincy and I thought good that overconfident dude got his captaincy snatched.

But then in 2012 I realized why Shakib is sooo loved! His Asia cup and T20 world cup performance gave me the answer. He scored 50 in almost all the Asia cup matches(except one where he scored 49 vs India but it was a match winning knock). In T20 world cup 2012 he tried his best! I started seeing Shakib as the MVP of Bangladesh Cricket Team. And also in IPL final 2012, how his two fours in the death overs was crucial for KKR to win their maiden IPL trophy.

In BPL, he also won the man of the tournament award in the first two seasons, and it was obvious that the second best Bangladeshi player was not even close to him.

What I still did not like about Shakib back then was his attitude as he seemed kinda arrogant. But I stopped disliking him as his performance was really good. Later I realized his rude attitude was the result of intense emotions. Over the years, he delivered whenever needed and made Bangladesh win so many crucial matches. Some were even almost impossible matches. In 2017, the unforgetable partenrship he and Riad created and eventually Bangladesh won the game against New Zealand and later qualified for semis in Champions Trophy. Another was the 1st test match against Australia, which Australia was almost winning due to Warner’s century but thanks to Shakib’s 5 wicket haul Bangladesh won that match.

Infact in cricket history, Shakib has won the 4th highest number of man of the series award which shows what an asset he has been for Bangladesh team over the years.

The way Shakib performed in the 2019 cricket world cup it was like a dream. Scoring 50 in almost all the 10 matches, and the only one he missed out he scored 40+, and also throughout the tournament he took some crucial wickets including the 5 wicket haul against Afghanistan.

It is very difficult to hate Shakib after such performance. And it is no surprise why he is the favourite of most Bangladeshi cricket fans. When Shakib was banned by ICC for a year, almost every Bangladeshi fans stood by his side and finally his bad phase was over and he eventually came back to the side.

He has performed in all three formats well. Modern cricket demands hard hitting, maybe Shakib is not the best in that but he has still done his part with both the bat and ball many times, he has such a great timing, and rescues the team mostly whenever needed that it is enough. Shakib has always delivered above his abilities and met expectations of fans. He is the exact kind of player who is best suited for Bangladesh team. He will surely do well for other teams but he is just the best for Bangladesh team, a player who will score runs when team is struggling in terms of runs and will take wickets when it is really important to get wickets! He is tailored for Bangladesh team specially.

This is a reason why Bangladeshi fans love Shakib Al Hasan so much, yes he is a little Beyadob but the way he perform, he is the best, and it overpowers his Beyadobness.

And I hope Shakib will continue to amaze us with all-round performances in the future too inshallah.

Favourite performances of Shakib:

49(31) vs India in Asia Cup 2012

51(69) and 5-29 vs Afghanistan in CWC 2019

124*(99) vs West Indies in CWC2019

114(115) vs New Zealand in CT2017

5-68 and 5-85 vs Australia in 2017 1st Test

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Asia Cup 2012 .

The 2012 Asia Cup was an international cricket tournament held in Bangladesh from 11 to 22 March 2012. Like the previous event, the tournament featured the four Test-playing nations from Asia: Bangladesh ,India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka .India entered the tournament as the defending 2010 Asia Cup . Pakistan won the tournament by beating Bangladesh in the final by 2 runs.

Despite not being the champion, Bangladesh has played a great game in this tournament. Bangladesh was able to defeat strong teams like India and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh won every match with great enthusiasm. Bangladesh cricket fans are still excited about that tournament. In the first match, Bangladesh lost to Pakistan by 21 runs. But they came back strong in the second match. In the second match, they defeated India by 21 runs. But in this match Sachin Tandulkar became the first batsman to score 100 centuries in international cricket. That's when Bangladeshi fans find a hope. Later they won the match by 5 wickets against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh was able to reach the final as a strong opponent. In the final match against Pakistan, Bangladeshi fans enjoyed a great final. Bangladesh lost the match by just two runs. Which was very depressing.

Although Bangladesh could not become the champion in the Asia Cup, this series is one of the best achievements for Bangladesh. This achievement is one of the inspirations to go a long way in the international arena .Tamim Iqbal was the first Bangladeshi player to score four consecutive ODI half-centuries in a row.

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Bangladesh whitewashed New Zealand :

The New Zealand cricket team toured Bangladesh from 5 to 17 October 2010. Five ODI were scheduled.Bangladesh won four and the other was abandoned without play. This was Bangladesh's first series victory against a full-strength Test playing nation.

1st ODI: 5 October 2010

Bangladesh won by 9 runs . In that match Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first . Rain reduced New Zealand's target to 210 runs from 37 overs according to the Duckworh Lewis Method. Shakib al Hasan was the man of the match.

2nd ODI: 8 October 2010

No play was possible due to Rain .

3rd ODI: 11 October 2010

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first . And they won by 7 wickets. Suhrawardi Shuvo was the man of the match.

4th ODI: 14 October 2010

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first. In this match Bangladesh won by 9 runs . Shakib Al Hasan was the player of the match.

5th ODI : 17 October, 2010

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. The they won the match by 3 runs . Rubel Hossain was the player of the match .

This series was one of the best achievements of the first international stage for Bangladesh. Bangladesh cricket fans still remember that match. The most refreshing thing about this Bangladesh team was that they were not willing to rest on laurels an attitude that made the whitewash possible.