Desk Report:
Bangladesh team spin consultant Mushtaq Ahmed frequently says one word, ‘believe’. According to him, if you want to do well, you have to believe that you can. He said the word believe so much at the press conference, he himself admitted it yesterday. While leaving the press conference at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, he slammed the table and said the word believe once again loudly, ‘How can you do well if you don’t have faith, tell me?’
Mushtaq has been working in the Bangladesh team for more than a year and a half. During this time, how much did he manage to convince his students that faith is the key to success? If his students have faith, then why did the Bangladesh team collapse so abruptly at an important time? Why can it shine on the big stage? The Litons are now facing a difficult equation, and if they lose to Afghanistan today, they are out. Mushtaq is not losing ‘faith’ when faced with a complex equation, ‘We have to believe that we can go to the Super Four. It is difficult. We have to rely on a lot of ifs and buts. But you have to focus on the next match. You have to win the match first. When you are mentally strong and have faith, then it will happen.’
In his playing career, Mushtaq played with Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram. They won the 1992 World Cup as cornered tigers. The way Imran used to motivate his teammates in difficult situations, Mushtaq wants to do the same for the Bangladesh team as well. Before giving that mantra, Mushtaq once again brought up the word belief or faith.
‘When I come to the press conference, I use the word faith a lot. I have played with Imran Khan, Miandad, Wasim Akram. They are legends of this game. I learned one thing from them while playing for Pakistan, at the international level, if you do not believe in yourself, if you forget your own strength and overestimate your opponent, you will not get good results. They (Bangladesh cricketers) are doing well, they are improving. They are working hard. They are improving their skills. Just a slight change in mentality is enough. You have to change your mentality. That’s why international cricket is harder than domestic cricket. It’s a matter of your temperament. I learned all this from Imran and Wasim. We have very good potential and ability. We just have to believe that we can do it,’ said Bangladesh team spin consultant Mushtaq.
You have to have faith. But can you deny that Afghanistan will be ahead in Abu Dhabi today in terms of experience and skill? Mushtaq is not denying it; rather, he is putting the Afghan spin attack ahead of his own spin attack. However, if there is faith here too, Mushtaq believes that it will not be difficult for Afghan spinners to play, ‘They have players like Rashid. Who have been playing brilliantly for the last 15 years. They are very experienced. They regularly play franchise T20 cricket around the world. That does not mean that we do not trust our spinners. If you look at the statistics, Bangladesh’s spinners are doing well in the middle order. Their economy is very poor. We have to rely on our strength. If we look at our own strengths, our spin department will also do well, God willing.
