'All about mental fitness'

Tushar Imran converted his hundred into a double hundred at the BKSP yesterday. It was no surprise that the 33-year old batsman continued his run-fest in domestic first-class competition by scoring his second double hundred. But one cannot ignore the fact that he spent seven and a half hours at the crease on way to making 220 runs.

“It's very simple. I enjoy batting,” was the straightforward comment from the right-hander, who in the course of his innings became the first Bangladeshi to cross the 9,000-run mark in first-class cricket.

“Believe me, it could have been much more enjoyable if I could spend more time in the middle because tiredness was not an issue for me,” he continued.

How does he maintain his fitness after more than a decade and a half of high-level cricket?

“Generally, I play football in the afternoon and do some gym work. It's not like I spent a huge amount of time in the nets; rather I believe that nothing is more important than knocking at the central wicket. I have understood since playing first-class cricket in 2000 that mental toughness is important to stay out in the middle for a long time and you can only achieve it through playing first-class cricket. Mental fitness is very important.”

Tushar's continued success is a testament to the high standard he maintained for a long time.

 “I actually try to compete with national players. I always tell myself that I must do better than the national players. And nobody will blame me for scoring runs (laughs), so what's wrong in scoring runs and who knows, I might even get a chance to return to the national team. It may not happen, but there is nothing wrong if I continue to push for a place and even if one player thinks that Tushar is lurking to take his place, it would be nice for me,” said Tushar, who played his last international game in December 2007.

Tushar, who played 5 Tests and 41 ODIs, advised young players to concentrate more on first-class cricket if they want to build a real Test career.

“It was a bit early when I got my chance in Test cricket. Actually, I had little idea about the approach of the longer-version cricket. Everyone is not Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim], so I request young players to learn the craft of longer-version cricket by playing first-class cricket. If you are able to spend five hours in first-class cricket then you will be able to spend two hours in Test cricket -- it's very simple,” he suggested.

The veteran campaigner lauded the improvement of the domestic standard. “I am playing first-class cricket for the last 17 years and I must say the standard has improved. We have been getting sporting wickets for the last few seasons, the competitiveness is high; a player is now not only happy with a hundred but wants to score bigger.”