Losing its sheen, but still special

“People say those days are gone but I always feel a different kind of excitement when it comes to an Abahani-Mohammedan match.” For 20-year old Abahani batsman Mosaddek Hossain clashing with the traditional rivals is a special occasion because he believes that a performance in that battle is always regarded as a special one even today, when the rivalry has lost a lot of the ferocity that characterized it in the 80s and 90s.

“If you can score big in this match you will get a different feeling. People may not come in big numbers to watch an Abahani-Mohammedan match these days but still the battle is special,” said Mosaddek, who was happy to be able to continue his stint with his beloved Dhanmondi-based club.

Abahani captain Tamim Iqbal also echoed his young teammate's sentiment: “The important aspect here is that we know that we are representing Abahani, and the players from Mohammedan know that they are representing Mohammedan. There is a history here. We have to keep that history in mind and the players know how important that is. I hope it will be a good contest tomorrow.”

Before that, the national opener explained the reason behind the reduced amount of interest for the archrivals' contest.  “Because of the draft system a player can't choose where he will play. For instance, if I play for a team for three to four years I'll definitely have a soft corner for them. I am sure that Akram chacha (Akram Khan), Nannu bhai (Minhajul Abedin), played for one team for nearly 10 years. So the kind of feeling that they would have had for their teams, maybe that feeling is not present here.”

Tamim however will not have to look at the past to be pumped up for today's match; the present situation with his side currently occupying sixth spot in the league and facing the table-toppers should be motivation enough.

Mohammedan captain Mushfiqur Rahim was not available to comment on today's match but coach Sohel Islam judged his opponents highly, although he issued a reminder that his side were in good touch.

“Abahani is definitely a good team. They have formed a good team this time. They have a balanced side. But we have a few advantages. We are also in good touch and we have a good composition. That is a reason to be hopeful of a good game,” said Sohel.

Tamim however was well aware of the fact that the good words from the opposition tent would not be good enough for his side; instead they have to play better cricket to win the match.

“I think as a team we must play much better cricket. Although we won some of the matches we haven't been at our best. If we want to stay in the championship race we will have to play much better cricket than this. I believe that we aren't playing good cricket. Mohammedan is a very good cricket team. In order to win against them or even compete against them, we have to play much better cricket,” said Tamim.

While Abahani will be looking to their strong batting line-up to click at the right time, the Mohammedan coach issued a warning that they have got the spin strength to stop their opponents.

“Mohammedan is a team that depends a lot on spin. I think our spinners are good. Naeem Islam is there and so is Enamul [Haque] junior and Naeem Islam junior. We believe that we can do well with our spin team. I believe we can stop our opponents with our spin strength.”