DHAKA, June 25, 2019 (BSS) – While Shakib Al Hasan hogged the limelight with his extraordinary performance during the match against Afghanistan few noticed how Mosaddek Hossain turned the complexion of the game in the death overs.
As Mushfiqur Rahim was dismissed for a tremendous 87 ball-83, there was apprehension whether Bangladesh could propel them past 250 but it was possible due to a whirlwind 24 ball-35 runs knock from Mosaddek Hossain Saikat.
In an extremely slow wicket, where scoring runs over 100 strike rate was almost impossible, Mosaddek did the unthinkable to take the match almost away from the Afghans’ grip.
That Afghanistan still scored 200 before being all out in 47 overs, it showed they could sense a chance if they would have limited Tigers score around 220-225. But there was one Mosaddek.
Whereas he was supposed to be not the part of World Cup squad as he came only as the back-up of Mahmudullah Riyad, who was unable to bowl due to shoulder injury sustained during the New Zealand in February this year.
Mosaddek though is a handy batsman, his off-spin capability was considered to draft him in the squad. And the rest is the history.
He was not even supposed to play the tri-series in Ireland but injury to several players including Shakib in the final match opened the gate for him. As Sabbir Rahman was considered as No. 7 batsman, Mosaddek had no chance to play indeed.
But due to Shakib’s injury during the final of Tri-series against West Indies, Sabbir came to bat at Shakib’s position at No.3 while Mosaddek was accommodated for No.7 position.
Sabbir was dismissed for a duck but Mosaddek struck a 27 ball-52 not out to help the side win the game from the jaws of the defeat and Bangladesh won their first ever multinational trophy.
Considering his impressive batting and his off-spin, he replaced Sabbir for No.7 in the World Cup, knowing that a couple failures would cost him the place. But Mosaddek was smart enough to grab the chances with both hands.
So it is a bad luck for Sabbir who only could blame himself for losing the place. As Mosaddek was injured during the game against Australia, Sabbir returned to the fold only to extend his and Bangladesh’s agony.
He shelled the catch of David Warner on 10, who later went on to hammer 146 ball-166 runs to throw Bangladesh out of the match. He missed a chance to inflict run-out on Usman Khawaja who hammered 72 ball-89 runs. Later he was out on first ball-duck.
Whereas Sabbir was rushed back early into the Bangladesh squad for the series against New Zealand when he was serving his six months ban for a disciplinary issue. He was termed the ‘X factor’ of the team and the team management argued that he should take preparation for World Cup by playing the series against New Zealand.
Sabbir repaid that faith by striking his first ODI century against the Kiwis in the third ODI after which his performance went downhill spiral and Mosaddek didn’t squander the opportunity to cement his place.
He then blasted 21 ball-30 in Bangladesh’s World Cup opener against South Africa, took wickets with his wily off-spin, fielded smartly, exactly what the team wanted from him.
But arguably his best performance was against Afghanistan when he scored 35 off Bangladesh’s 55 in the last seven overs on slow pitch to throw the Afghans out of the game completely.
“I was just trying to hit every ball and fortunately it paid off. Not an easy track to start on, it’s a bit slow early on and not easy to play shots,” Mosaddek said.
“I think these are not ideal conditions for batsmen. So I think our batsmen did really well and 262 is a really challenging score. They (Shakib and Rahim) batted really well and adjusted to the pitch beautifully,”