Mushfiq, finest batsman of Bangladesh
He is third keeper-cum captain to hit ton on Indian soil
Syed Mohammed Pithu, from Hyderabad
Mushfiqur Rahim yet again staked claim as the finest batsman of Bangladesh amid the criticism over his captaincy and wicket-keeping. The resilience with which he defied a mighty Indian attack was the testament as to why he is regarded so highly despite his unimaginative captaincy and reckless job behind the wicket.
For logical reasons, the criticism was relentless. He made a school-boy like mistakes behind the wicket and also put down a catch during the first innings of India. What if if he didnt make those mistakes was the common regret when he himself led the teams revival to take the side in a strong position which forced India captain not to enforce follow-on. After a huge criticism, someone needs huge mental strength to show such sort of performance and Mushfiqur displayed it, showing an unwavering resolve.
His 127 off 262, laced with 16 fours and two sixes is believed to be the finest century amongst the five centuries he got so far. Considering the situation and his mental condition, it should be rated higher. And he also made some unbelievable record on the course of this century.
He is the only the third keeper-captain to score a century on Indian soil. Legendary Australian keeper Adam Gilchrist and former Indian captain MS Dhoni (5 tons) are the other two players.
While he joined Gilchrist and Dhoni, what is eye-catching is that among his five centuries, four came in outside from home as a keeper-captain. Remaining keeper-captains collectively scored four centuries in Test cricket away from home.
Another amazing fact that is Mushfiqur Rahims batting average outside home as captain is 73.66. Its the second highest in Test cricket if minimum 500 runs are taken. Don Bradman averaged 85.63 as captain outside home.
It was for the first time in international cricket that both the team captains and wicketkeepers scored centuries in a game. Indias captain Virat Kohli and keeper Wriddhiman Saha scored centuries while Bangladeshs keeper and captain, Rahim scored a century.
His incredible resistance helped Bangladesh amass 388 which is the highest score by a visiting team in India while batting second since 2013. This is also the first instance of a visiting team scoring 300 plus in India in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th innings of a Test match. Even he is so far the most successful Test captain of Bangladesh, leading them win in five matches including against England.
The stat clearly showed that captaincy is not burden for him but still for some reasons, he could never come up with innovative decisions on the field which was prime reason that he is criticised as captain always. And at the same time, his relentless failure behind the wicket compounds the situation. Yet he showed stubbornness to stick to his wicket-keeping job which irritates the people to such extent that even his epic knocks never highlighted such way.
I think he is the best batter at the moment, said Bangladesh batting consultant Thilan Samaraweera. From what I have seen in September he is in very good form. In Chittagong game against England, we were chasing down a total in a tricky pitch and we were almost there because of him. But later he got an unbelievable ball from Gareth Batty. He is one of the best Test batters for our team because he has a solid game plan and he has guts.
Like Samaweera, everybody knows how gutsy as a batsman he is. But he could never quite execute this gut into his captaincy and wicket-keeping job.
Scoreboard
India 1st innings: 687-6 dec
Bangladesh 1st innings
(overnight 322-6):
Tamim run out 24
Soumya c Saha b Yadav 15
Mominul lbw b Yadav 12
M Riyad lbw b Sharma 28
Shakib c Yadav b Ashwin 82
Mushfiqur c Saha b Ashwin 127
Sabbir lbw b Jadeja 16
Mehedi b Kumar 51
Taijul c Saha b Yadav 10
Taskin c Rahane b Jadeja 8
K Rabbi not out 0
Extras (lb15) 15
Total (all out, 127.5 overs) 388
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-44, 3-64,
4-109, 5-216, 6-235, 7-322, 8-339,
9-378, 10-388.
BOWLING O M R W
B Kumar 21 7 52 1
I Sharma 20 5 69 1
R Ashwin 28.5 7 98 2
U Yadav 25 6 84 3
R Jadeja 33 8 70 2
India 2nd innings
M Vijay c Mushfiq b Taskin 7
L Rahul c Mushfiq b Taskin 10
C Pujara not out 54
V Kohli c Riyad b Shakib 38
A Rahane b Shakib 28
R Jadeja not out 16
Extras (lb5, w1) 6
Total (4 wkts dec; 29 overs) 159
Fall of wicket: 1-12, 2-23, 3-90, 4-128.
BOWLING O M R W
Taijul 6 1 29 0
Taskin 7 0 43 2
Shakib 9 0 50 2
Mehedi 7 0 32 0
Bangladesh 2nd innings:
Tamim c Kohli b Ashwin 3
Soumya c Rahane b Jadeja 42
Mominul c Rahane b Ashwin 27
M Riyad not out 9
Shakib not out 21
Extras (nb 1) 1
Total (3 wickets; 35 overs) 103
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-71, 3-75.
BOWLING O M R W
B Kumar 5 2 14 0
R Ashwin 16 6 34 2
I Sharma 3 0 19 0
U Yadav 3 0 9 0
R Jadeja 8 2 27 1
