Slog-sweep sinks Mushfiq

A big opportunity came to Mushfiqur Rahim’s way to prove captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza preciously right but he squandered it again.

The diminutive batsman got out on 38 in the second ODI against Afghanistan yesterday, after trying to play the ‘slog-sweep’ which was questioned a day earlier in the pre-match conference. Even though this shot gave him many runs in the past, many believed Mushfiqur’s started trying to play the shot even before he got him set in the crease properly.
Mashrafe backed Mushfiqur Rahim, stating that the wicket-keeper batsman would come up with fire when it matters most. He also defended his sweep shot by saying that he would justify the reason why he plays the shot more often than not.
Mushfiqur scored just six runs in the first ODI before perishing to the same shot. On the second ODI, it was imperative for Mushfiqur to stand tall for the team’s cause since both of the openers were removed when the scoreboard read just 50 in 12 overs. But on a day when it mattered most, he failed to carry the start.
Time was ripe to show his credential as he partnered in-form Mahmudullah Riyad. Bangladesh badly needed those two to set the tune and they actually got going well. Mushfiqur initially seemed to have curbed the sweep shot and concentrated on keeping it as simple as he could. He got off to the mark with a four, driven through the cover. It was the shot that was pleasing to watch and then another four was followed as he clipped off the pads with the angle to the send it through the deep midwicket fence.
After getting a doubles, he then hit another four and seemed to have reached his pick. As he grew with confidence, he decided to unleash the sweep shot from his repertoire. A slog-sweep then gave him two runs before he struck another four with the same shot. At this point, it seemed what Mashrafe said a day before; Mushfiqur probably was going to prove it preciously right.
 He continued to torment the Afghan bowlers like the way he did the opponents at his heyday. But the mood was dented by the dismissal of Riyad who played a loose shot like the two openers to throw his wicket.
This was the time which demanded a mature cricket from Mushfiqur. Since he knew that the sweep shot caused his downfall in the recent time, it is mandatory that he would check this. Shakib joined him and was as usual busy to pick up singles as much as he could. Since the team was still in danger, as a set batsman Mushfiqur’s duty was to ensure he would get a good partnership with Shakib but instead he decided to charge the bowlers with his favourite shot which resulted his downfall. And it was not only his downfall, his dismissal sparked a sensational collapse, making 165 for nine from 122 for four. Bangladesh however scored 208 before being all out in 49.2 overs thanks to a fighting 45 not out from debutant Mosaddek Hossain.
It was not that Mushfiqur got a century in the ODI cricket a long time ago; in fact he got to a century just four matches ago but the prolonged bad patch in T20 cricket seemed to have affected his ODI batting as well. And the slog-sweep shot is believed to make an adverse impact since his dismissal with the same shot against India during the World T20, a match which was slipped away from Bangladesh’s hand when they needed just two runs of three balls.

Slog-sweep sinks Mushfiq

A big opportunity came to Mushfiqur Rahims way to prove captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza preciously right but he squandered it again. The diminutive batsman got out on 38 in the second ODI against Afghanistan yesterday, after trying to play the slog-sweep which was questioned a day earlier in the pre-match conference. Even though this shot gave him many runs in the past, many believed Mushfiqurs started trying to play the shot even before he got him set in the crease properly. Mashrafe backed Mushfiqur Rahim, stating that the wicket-keeper batsman would come up with fire when it matters most. He also defended his sweep shot by saying that he would justify the reason why he plays the shot more often than not. Mushfiqur scored just six runs in the first ODI before perishing to the same shot. On the second ODI, it was imperative for Mushfiqur to stand tall for the teams cause since both of the openers were removed when the scoreboard read just 50 in 12 overs. But on a day when it mattered most, he failed to carry the start. Time was ripe to show his credential as he partnered in-form Mahmudullah Riyad. Bangladesh badly needed those two to set the tune and they actually got going well. Mushfiqur initially seemed to have curbed the sweep shot and concentrated on keeping it as simple as he could. He got off to the mark with a four, driven through the cover. It was the shot that was pleasing to watch and then another four was followed as he clipped off the pads with theangle to the send it through the deep midwicket fence. After getting a doubles, he then hit another four and seemed to have reached his pick. As he grew with confidence, he decided to unleash the sweep shot from his repertoire. A slog-sweep then gave him two runs before he struck another four with the same shot. At this point, it seemed what Mashrafe said a day before; Mushfiqur probably was going to prove it preciously right. He continued to torment the Afghan bowlers like the way he did the opponents at his heyday. But the mood was dented by the dismissal of Riyad who played a loose shot like the two openers to throw his wicket. This was the time which demanded a mature cricket from Mushfiqur. Since he knew that the sweep shot caused his downfall in the recent time, it is mandatory that he would check this. Shakib joined him and was as usual busy to pick up singles as much as he could. Since the team was still in danger, as a set batsman Mushfiqurs duty was to ensure he would get a good partnership with Shakib but instead he decided to charge the bowlers with his favourite shot which resulted his downfall. And it was not only his downfall, his dismissal sparked a sensational collapse, making 165 for nine from 122 for four. Bangladesh however scored 208 before being all out in 49.2 overs thanks to a fighting 45 not out from debutant Mosaddek Hossain. It was not that Mushfiqur got a century in the ODI cricket a long time ago; in fact he got to a century just four matches ago but the prolonged bad patch in T20 cricket seemed to have affected his ODI batting as well. And the slog-sweep shot is believed to make an adverse impact sincehis dismissal with the same shot against India during the World T20, a matchwhich was slipped away from Bangladeshs hand when they needed just two runs of three balls.