Mushfiqur Rahim abandoned his helmet during the latter part of his record-breaking century on day two of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Dhaka.
Resuming his innings after tea on the second day, Mushfiqur Rahim went out to bat without a helmet and wearing only his cap to face Zimbabwe’s twin spin attack. It didn’t take long after the break for him to reach his double century, which was the first double century scored by any batter in Test cricket this year. He also became the first wicketkeeper to score two Test double-centuries and the only Bangladesh batsman with two double centuries behind his name.
Bangladesh declared their first innings on 522-7 after Mushfiqur had scored the runs he needed to record the highest Test score for a Bangladesh batter. His monster innings ended with him undefeated on 219 off 421 balls, having hit 18 fours and one six, which was also the longest Test innings by a Bangladeshi in terms of time spent at the crease – a little over nine hours.
‘During this innings, I never took undue risk which was significant for me. I had a big innings without playing some of my favorite shots. It has given me more belief,’ said Mushfiqur after helping to rescue his side from 26-3 and take them to a position of dominance in the second Test at 522-7.
‘We lost three early wickets so the responsibility was on the rest of the batsmen. We needed to take the team to a safe position. I think Imrul, Mominul, myself and Mahmudullah have a special responsibility to make sure one of us get a big innings.
‘We cannot win a game by getting thirties or fifties. We are starting a good trend of getting big hundreds. You saw it in the ODIs. It is a good sign. Being a senior member of the side, it is always my target to contribute as much as possible,’ he added.
Bangladesh declared their first innings on 522-7, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz ending undefeated on 68, with Kyle Jarvis returning figures of 28-6-71-5. After an excellent Test debut in the first Test which saw him take 4-21 in Bangladesh’s second innings, Brandon Mavuta had a day to forget with the ball in the second Test, sending down 31 overs at the cost of 137 runs – while securing just one maiden.
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