BCB Media- 'We have nothing to lose': Mushfiqur Rahim

[Zeeshan]

‘We have got nothing to lose’: Mushfiqur Rahim


Monday, 24 September 2012


KANDY – Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim at Monday’s pre-match presser:

Awareness about what is required
We watched the game yesterday. We had a chat this morning. We have already found out what we need to improve on tomorrow, so let’s see how it goes.

Whether the aerial shots early in the innings against New Zealand were a bad ply
It is difficult to say. If it comes off, it’s fine. When it doesn’t, it’s nothing. The thought was to start well and we needed to score in the first six overs. But we lost early wickets. That’s the way Tamim (Iqbal) plays and Shakib (Al Hasan) and (Mohammad) Ashraful also. That’s our strength. It didn't go our way in that match but hopefully we’ll turn it around tomorrow.

The Pakistan challenge
It is a big challenge for us. Their strength is in bowling but their batting line-up is good too. Hopefully we’ll plan right for all those areas. This is one more opportunity for us. Going into tomorrow’s game we have nothing to lose. We have to bounce back and I think this is a great chance for us.

Revenge after Asia Cup final
It is not revenge. It is more of an opportunity for us to do well against a top side both as individuals and a team, in a big tournament. We are looking forward to do that.

With only two group games whether the format help Bangladesh
I don’t think so, but it’s the same for everyone. It is a tough group to be fair. But the boys didn’t put their hands up in the first game. I am confident that we’ll learn from the mistakes and do better in the next game.

Playing three left-arm spinners
I think we made a mistake in the last game because the wicket wasn’t helpful to left-arm spinners. We thought there would be something in the wicket during the day, so we chose to field first. Probably this was wrong but we didn’t really bowl well on that wicket. Tomorrow it’s a night game on a fresh wicket, so we might go with one more seam bowler instead of a spinner. But we will have a look at the wicket before we decide.

How important it would be for Bangladesh to qualify for the Super Eights
That is one of our goals, but there is still a long way to go. It is not an impossible task. Pakistan are a good side but are not unbeatable. If the boys can put their hands up and show what they’re capable of, anything is possible.

Whether having knowledge of the equation helps
It does, but the main thing would be to do the basics right. We didn’t do well in all three departments in the first game. There is nothing to lose but plenty to gain for us. Pakistan wouldn’t want to lose against us, so we have to go hard at them. We will give our best shot and show how we can play.

Fight back
It is not impossible. England were all out for just 80, who would have thought of something like that.

Whether not having a win against Pakistan after 1999 add pressure
There’s pressure in every game. They’d think in the same way. They would not want to lose to Bangladesh. What we need to do is to play well in all departments. In the last game we didn’t even do 60 percent of what we are capable of. As you have said, we haven’t defeated them in 13 years. Tomorrow is another opportunity to beat them.

Asia Cup final
This is a different format, but most of these players were in that final. Maybe we won’t have that level of confidence but we know their strengths. The most important thing would be to execute our plans.

Saqlain Mushtaq’s input
Of course he has been a great addition to the coaching team. He is telling us how to read (Saeed) Ajmal, (Shahid) Afridi, (Umar) Gul and (Mohammad) Hafeez. But the application will depend on us. If we can do that, it’ll be an interesting game tomorrow.

Occasions in the recent past where Bangladesh failed to go through due to Net Run Rate (example being the recent T20 tournament in Zimbabwe) and whether the players think about these equations beforehand
We know that we have to win by 36-37 runs if we bat first and probably chase down a target in 15-16 overs. Everything will depend on how the start goes for us. We can’t just win normally. We’ll have to keep an eye on the run rate. We know this and we will plan and choose our best eleven accordingly.

Saeed Ajmal
He’s a big factor for his team. He will start bowling in the powerplays when we have to take some risks. We can’t play all their bowlers normally and we’ll have to attack some. We have players for that, and we are planning in that way.

Changes in the team
It’s a fresh wicket and a night game. We have a few seaming all-round and pace bowling options. We’ll look at the wicket tomorrow and there could be one or two changes for the seaming conditions.

The success of the spinners in the Pak-NZ game
The wicket in which they played was a lot drier and it was a used pitch. So the spinners got some turn from the wicket. We played on a fresh surface. If we got the dry wicket then our spinners could make a mark because they are quality bowlers.