He was trying to go out of his character to fulfill the demands of T20s: Mushfiqur Rahim’s childhood coach
India Today
Asia Cup 2022: Mushfiqur Rahim scored only five runs in the tournament in two matches after which he announced his retirement from T20Is on Monday, September 4.
Mushfiqur Rahim’s childhood coach, Nazmul Abedin, felt that the right-handed batter was trying way too hard to adapt to the needs of T20 cricket. Over the last 12 months, Mushfiqur’s place in the national T20I team was questioned plenty of times. The Bogra-born cricketer didn’t have the best of outings in the Asia Cups as well.
On Sunday, September 04, Mushfiqur pulled the curtains down on his T20I career, saying that he wanted to focus more on ODIs and Tests from now onwards.
Mushfiqur’s coach said that the batter was hell bent on doing well in the Asia Cup and hence, was trying to go out of his character in net sessions.
"Look, I have seen him trying many shots in the nets before going to the Asia Cup and to be honest he was trying too hard and at times going out of his character to make sure he fulfills the demands of T20. This could have had an effect on his batting, since he had his own pattern, and someone who moves away from his pattern is unlikely to succeed," Nazmul was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.
"If I am a batsman and I always think that I have to score quickly, it will hardly work. If the ball is there to hit he will hit it on the back of his muscle memory that will dictate his action, but if he is predetermined to play a shot, it might backfire," he added.
In 102 T20Is, the 35-year-old Mushfiqur scored 1500 runs at an average of 19.48 with six half-centuries to his name. In Asia Cup 2022, Mushfiqur scored only five runs from two matches at an average of 2.50.
