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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Mushfiqur wants to play till 2023 World Cup

By AFP
July 19, 2019

DHAKA: Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim hopes to represent Bangladesh in the ICC 2023 World Cup, which will be his fifth appearance in the pinnacle event.

Mushfiqur has been an integral part of the Bangladesh team – a unit which has been taking giant strides in international cricket. The wicket-keeper batsman, has been leading the team’s batting alongside Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, averaging 47.21 since the start of 2015.

Mushfiqur, now 32, hasn’t ruled himself out of contention for the ICC World Cup 2023, adding that he’ll eye one series at a time to prepare for the bigger goal.

“Definitely, I have a big plan, but I like to think series-by-series,” Rahim told Cricbuzz. “And I prepare according to that and also practice according to that. When you will think series by series, it will help to keep your form. If you think so far, it becomes tough to maintain the consistency. We have to think slot-by-slot, but at the end of the day, it’s far away. But it is my goal - to play 2023 World Cup.”

Quarter-finalists at the ICC World Cup 2015, Bangladesh might have finished at the eighth position in the 2019 edition, but impressed one and all with clinical wins wins against quality opponents like South Africa and West Indies and giving a tough fight to table-toppers India and the eventual runners-up New Zealand.

While Shakib was a stand-out performer with both bat and ball, completing a double of 606 runs and 11 wickets in the tournament, Mushfiqur finished as Bangladesh’s second leading run-scorer with 367 runs from eight innings.

The Bangladesh Test captain was satisfied about his contribution to the team’s cause. “If you see the best batsmen list at No.4 currently, I think I will be at second (after Ross Taylor in this World Cup),” he said. “So it is a big satisfaction. It also inspires me to do more hard work to achieve more success.”