Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh wicketkeeper, World Cup 2019 Player Full Profile: Bangladesh's Mr dependable will be looking to live up to expectations

Mushfiqur Rahim was just 16 when he made his Test debut at Lord’s. Though he scored only 16 in his first Test innings, his class was evident from some of the shots the youngster played against the England pace attack on Day 1 morning of that Test match. [caption id=“attachment_5192681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of Mushfiqur Rahim. AFP[/caption] Much like Shakib Al Hasan and some of his other contemporary Bangladesh cricketers, Mushfiqur is also a product of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP), the national sports institute of the country. In the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, he led the national team and Bangladesh finished at the fifth position in the competition. During that famous victory against India in the 2007 World Cup, Mushfiqur scored an unbeaten half-century as the Tigers went on to beat a much-fancied Indian team. Thanks to his sound technique as a batsman and swift glove-work behind the stumps, it did not take much time for him to become Bangladesh’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman. On 11 March 2013, during a Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, Mushfiqur became the first Bangladeshi to score a double hundred. At the Test level, with more than 4000 runs at an average close to 36, he is perhaps Bangladesh’s most dependable batsman. His unbeaten 219 against Zimbabwe in Chittagong in 2018, is still the highest Test score by a Bangladeshi batsman. In ODIs, his batting average is close to 35 and has scored more than 5000 runs. Meanwhile, despite all the criticisms as a white-ball captain, Mushfiqur is still Bangladesh’s most successful Test skipper. It is under his captaincy the Tigers went on to register their maiden Test triumphs against England, Sri Lanka and Australia. In fact, out of Bangladesh’s 10 Test triumphs so far, Mushfiqur had led the team on seven occasions. In the recent past, there has been a lot of criticism of Mushfiqur’s keeping. Even at times, there were occasions when he played in the team only as a specialist batsman. But personally, he always prefers to play his dual role. However, in order to concentrate on his personal game, recently Mushfiqur had to hand over the Test captaincy to Shakib and at present, he plays as Bangladesh’s premier wicketkeeper-batsman across all three formats. Heading into the World Cup, he is Bangladesh’s Mr Dependable with the bat, with expectations riding on him, he would look to make sure he doesn’t disappoint the cricket crazy nation.   For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here