DHAKA, Sept 4, 2022 (BSS)-As Mushfiqur Rahim decided to hang his boots at
least for T20 cricket, Bangladesh saw the end of the career of a remarkable
batter who gave the nations many occasions to exalt.

Mushfiqur was the member of the squad that played the country's first T20
International match against Zimbabwe in Khulna in 2006. From them on, he was
the linchpin of Bangladesh's batting, helping the side win many memorable
matches in this format in which Bangladesh always remain a vulnerable team.

Of late though his performance with willow and with glove behind the wicket
has been heavily criticized, he was the hero of the two memorable victories
of the country-one against India in Delhi and one against Sri Lanka in
Colombo.

He played 102 T20 matches, scoring 1500 runs at an average of just 19.48 and
a strike rate of 115.03. It's a stat which didn't speak a volume of his
caliber but stat sometimes couldn't justify the joy a cricketer brings up for
a nation.

He played a 35 ball-72 not out against Sri Lanka which helped Bangladesh win
the game, overhauling a mammoth total of 214. The knock is considered as one
of the best T20 knocks. Also his 43 ball-60 steered Bangladesh to their first
ever T20 victory against India in Delhi. Those two knocks came in an
unforgiving condition and situation, which couldn't be justified solely by
the stat.

The day was all about Mushfiqur Rahim. It's not easy to go to the opponent's
field and just mess them up. When the opponent is India, and the game is in
Delhi, India's heartland, there is no need to research who is the favorite.
But there was one in the Bangladesh camp who brought down Team India's Delhi
Empire that day.

There was no atmosphere of war. There was no shield and sword. Delhi's air
was polluted. The condition is completely unknown. But Bangladesh beat India
that day thanks to Mushfiqur's performance.

His 60 off 43 was instrumental in gunning down India's total of 149.

The next day, Mushfiqur made headlines across India. The Anandabazar
newspaper headlined thus, 'Mushfiqur Rahim the hero in Bangladesh's first T20
win over India'. The Bortoman newspaper headlined, 'Team India loses to
Mushfiqur'. India's popular media Times of India headlined, 'Mushfiqur Rahim
gives Bangladesh its first T20 win against India.'

Even though Mushfiqur was the hero of bringing India's Delhi Empire down, in
the bilateral series on November 3, 2019, ---2 years, 7 months and 11 days
ago, he was the villain in Bangalore.

Mushfiqur wasted a golden opportunity to beat India in 2016 T20 World due to
his own mistakes. A victory against India in T20 World Cup and that too in
India's soil definitely would be long cherished.

 But not only him, Mahmudullah Riyad was equally 'guilty' in that defeat.
Bangladesh lost the cursed match in Bengaluru by just 1 run.

That defeat in Bengaluru will be his eternal regret for the rest of his life.
At a press conference after conquering Delhi, Mushfiqur said, "People make
mistakes and learning from those mistakes is the most important thing. No
other bilateral series really compares to the World Cup match. That regret
will never go away, I have said before that if I want to go back to any match
in my life, then it will be that Bengaluru match."

Bengaluru and Delhi memories came back as Mushfiqur officially ended his
international T20 career today. What could be the career highlights of
Mushfiqur who has played in this format for more than an era? The match
against Sri Lanka in the Nihadas Trophy in 2018 and his Nagin dance are
noteworthy. Bangladesh played the final in the Nidahas Trophy, hosted by Sri
Lanka that year.

Bangladesh were talk of the tournament due to various issues on and off the
field. The Tigers defeated Sri Lanka twice to reach the final. The 'two
relative' Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah were the heroes to bring the victory
against the hosts twice.

Bangladesh reached the target of 215 runs given by Sri Lanka in the third
match of the competition in Colombo with five wickets in hand. And it was
made possible by Mushfiqur's heroic innings. His unbeaten innings of 72 off
35 balls led Bangladesh to victory.

After hitting the winning singles off Thisara Perera delivery Mushfiqur's
'Naagin Dance' became the trademark. A few days later, Mahmudullah's six in
the last over against Sri Lanka in a heated match again helped Bangladesh
reach the final of the competition. Mushfiqur led the team as they broke down
in Nagin dance, much to the anger of the Sri Lanka players and fans. The
Nagin dance trend is still going on as Sri Lanka celebrated the victory
against Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup. Sadly Mushfiqur was the villain
of this match, which eventually forced him to walk into the sunset in this
format. He dropped the catch of Kusal Mendis who struck 37 ball-60 to lead
the side victory and he also failed to take a review which could have gone in
Bangladesh's way.

However despite losing the title to India in Nidahas Trophy, Mushfiqur's
heroic innings was the center of all discussion for a long time. It was an
innings which will be written in the indelible ink of history forever.

This is how Mushfiqur also won his first match after getting the captaincy.
His captaincy journey began with a T20 against West Indies in Dhaka in 2011.
Chasing the target of 133 runs given by West Indies, when the likes of
Shakib, Tamim, Ashraful failed, Mushfiq scored 41 runs off 26 balls and won
the game. After much drama in the last over, when four runs were needed from
the last two balls,

Mushfiqur hit Ravi Rampaul for a six over mid-wicket. Even he started his
captaincy career with a bang, the consistency was not there. His captaincy
record in T20 International read 8 wins in 23 matches.

Of late Mushfiqur's various statements in social media sparked controversy,
for which he became the eyesore of a large portion of Bangladeshi fans. Also
his form didn't help his cause but he will always be remembered for some of
the finest innings played by a Bangladeshi batter in a format which
Bangladesh indeed don't know how to play.