Mushfiq: The Dream Fulfilled

[al Furqaan]

The short history of our cricket has always been filled with failed talents and overhyped busts. From Al Shahriar to Ashraful, the elder Iqbal, Aftab and Alok, and from Junaid to Zunaed, A to Z has been covered by batsmen who've failed for one reason or multiple to succeed at the highest level. But with Mushfiqur Rahim, have we finally found the exception to this painful rule?

I think so.

Mohammad Ashraful was universally hailed as the most naturally gifted batsman produced by Bangladesh. Sadly, Ash himself understood that phrase much too literally as he usually gifted his wicket away quite naturally in course of an innings. His failure was most difficult to swallow for us fans, who had early on dubbed him as "our Sachin".

Sachin he was most certainly not, but the composite of attributes that Ashraful brought to the crease were mesmerizing, even if never fully harnessed. Of all the batsmen I've seen since I started following cricket full-time in 2003, only Aftab Ahmed came close.

However, it was during India's 2010 tour to Bangladesh that I first dared to think that the dream of having our very own Sachin might be realized, not in the form of the youngest centurion, but in the form of a baby-faced WK-bat from Bogra.

Indeed, little Mushy, embodies everything we had expected or hoped to achieve through Ashraful. While Shakib and Tamim might be more well known to the opposition and to fans across the world, both of them have at least one fatal flaw. Mushfiq has none.

Mushfiq's technique is actually even more compact, leading to strokes which travel mostly along the carpet. His range of stroke play is just as extensive, and he has a greater ability to bat in all gears, according to match situation. His batting is always easy on the eyes. His dedication and fitness are exemplary as is his physical toughness to bat through the pain of multiple injuries. Mentally, he's also strong enough to guide the team single-handedly and bat in clutch situations. He is also the only batsman on the team who can play all three formats equally well. He can find the boundaries when needed in the limited overs forms, and more importantly can rotate the strike and keep the runs flowing by working the ball around the field and rarely gets bogged down. Even the one glaring technique flaw he had - a high backlift that left him vulnerable to full and fast deliveries in line with the stumps - seems to have been corrected because it has been a while since he has been bowled by even the quickest of bowlers in today's game.

Thus I think it is quite obvious to say that Mushfiq is the best batsman we've produced to date. He has only recently started batting in the top 4 in ODIs full time, despite having some of his best early innings at that position in the past. We are now beginning to see that Mushfiq is wasted batting down the order in the limited overs format. It should be apparent that his wicket-keeping will never be top class, and due to that his batting at #6 is a huge disservice to our Test team. Mushy has the technique, temperament, and skill to bat at #3 and solve that problem for us permanently, but it doesn't appear as thought that will happen any time soon.

Note: While its still early, from what I've seen of Mominul, I believe he will surpass Rahim as the greatest Bangladesh batsman of all time. A Test batting average of 75 is no mean feat regardless of the strength of opposition (all teams are higher ranked than Bangladesh in any case) or the flatness of the wicket. Should Mominul maintain an average in excess of 50, he will have the numbers to back his position as Mushfiq's batting enantiomer.