Mushfiqur was making sure to ‘get some ones and twos’

After the heartbreak of Bengaluru in 2016, the senior Bangladesh duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah was cautious this time. They decided to hold back their emotions until the match is over and deal with singles and twos. A rather relieved Mushfiqur Rahim said that at the post-match press conference after Bangladesh's historic win.

The man of the match said, "It can happen to anyone, and when you have a career of 10-15 years, you can have such matches. We've also stayed there till the end and closed out games, and so that also adds to the confidence. In the last over, we just needed four runs, and I thought we were cruising. I had a chat with Mahmudullah to make sure and get some ones and twos because there was a lot of space on the onside." 

What made the win even more special that Bangladesh was playing without two of their best performers in Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, But Mushfiqur emphasized on the role youngsters played, "It's a great moment for Bangladesh cricket because we had not won against them [India] in the T20 format before," he said. "And as you said, we were missing a couple of our key players [Shakib and Tamim] in our line-up, but I thought the way the young players have stuck together and the way our bowlers are bowling, especially against India, it's outstanding. They set up the game."

After the recent turmoil, very few people gave Bangladesh a chance against India. However, the visitors knew that they had nothing to lose, "We have come here to compete in each and every game. As long as you are playing consistent cricket and improving in each game – that is our main goal. After winning this game, we are surely looking forward to winning another game; hopefully, the next game. We had nothing to lose coming into this game and the whole series, so that gives us a great cushion and the freedom to play to our potential and a fearless brand of cricket." Said Mushfiqur.

In the series opener, Bangladesh had the belief that they can chase India's 148 down if they can build partnerships, "When me and Soumya batted, we thought if one of us can stay till the 19th over, we can close the game," he said. "We just needed one big over, maybe 16 or 20 runs off it, and if there's a set batsman out there, that becomes quite easy. We had planned to go for an all-out attack in the last three overs, and I thought that 18th over was very crucial because Chahal is their main bowler in these conditions and we needed a few boundaries there and in the 19th. So I thought it all went the way we had planned."

Still, the veteran batter is not getting complacent. Mushfiq thought that the team could do better, "We won, but there are a couple of areas we can improve in. In the last two overs, we gave away a couple of easy boundaries to them. We also need to close well with the ball. If we improve in those areas and play much better than what we did tonight, then I think there is nothing impossible in the next game. We will try our level best to compete against India."