DHAKA—Captain Mushfiqur Rahim’s inspirational talk played a key role in Beximco Dhaka’s rejuvenation against a high flying Gazi Group Chattogram in their sixth match of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The captain led the side from the front with a subline 50 ball-73 not out but still Dhaka could post 145-4, a score that looked not enough to make a team like Chattogram sweating, who were on a four-match winning streak.
Knowing that they couldn’t afford another defeat, Mushfiqur Rahim however urged the players to stand up, saying that ‘If you want to stay alive in the tournament, you should win this match.’
That talk inspired Dhaka to such an extent that they bowled with heart and snatched a 7-run victory.
“I don’t think the score that we amassed (145-4) was enough to win the game because the wicket was good to bat on. At the same time, we again failed to score enough runs in the first six overs,” Mushfiqur said after the match.
“We are at least 20 runs short from our desired score. Mustafizur was difficult to play at the death overs, so what we needed, we couldn’t do that. I just told my bowlers that a victory is imperative for us. I told all the players in the dressing room that if you want to stay alive in the tournament, you should win this game. And they bowled well to snatch the victory.”
Mushfiqur’s side was at the knife-edge of being eliminated from the last four races, after starting the tournament with three straight defeats. But they are now at the race with three victories in a row. The latest victory put them in the third place of the point table.
“As I said earlier, T20 games depend on momentum. No team can be unbeatable in a T20 game. You just need to do well in all three departments.”BSS
