Bangladesh middle-order mainstay Mushfiqur Rahim has batted at number four for the major portion of his career. When the going gets tough in difficult conditions, it usually comes down to Mushfiqur to steer the Tigers' batting order out of trouble.

In the ongoing series against Ireland, Mushfiqur's batting position changed to number six but the wicket-keeper batter is enjoying his new role tremendously, as if the pressure of not having to pull a rescue act every innings had given him newfound ambition to go towards a new approach in ODI format.

The batter last played in number six in 2016. Till date he has batted in 53 innings at number six, a figure only surpassed by 117 innings at number four.

"It was a great opportunity for me to bat at six. If I remember correctly, I have batted at six before. The wicket was a bit wet early on but our openers and number 3 and four batted brilliantly. On this kind of wicket, I enjoyed batting a lot since it was good for batting. I tried to use my skills," Mushfiqur said today while talking to broadcasters.

Mushfiqur had batted at a steady strike-rate of over 80 in ODIs, but coming in at number six, he has shown the ability to accelerate very early. In a way, coming in at number six helped Mushfiqur find a new avenue in his batting.

"It gives me great belief as a senior cricketer," he said about his new style.

"When youngsters like Shanto [Najmul Hossain] and [Towhid] Hridoy score runs, then it gives us the opportunity to go and start hitting from the first ball. It's a great relief. We are under no pressure and we just go out there and express ourselves," he said about finding a new lease of life in his batting.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Two partnerships of 80 and 128 in the first two ODIs with Hridoy helped Bangladesh post 300 plus scores in the first two ODIs. Mushfiqur hit a tremendous 100, the fastest ODI ton for Bangladesh, during the second ODI and said he was enjoying his partnerships with youngsters such as Hridoy.

"Obviously when you are batting with that strike rate and when youngsters are at the other side it's really enjoyable and hopefully I will continue the same way," Mushfiqur said, having accumulated a strike rate of over 167 in the two innings against Ireland.

"Obviously (batting aggressively) it all depends on the condition because in the last two or three series we haven't been playing with a good like sporting surface. There is little bit of help for the spinners and the quicks so this is the first time I think the wicket are really good to bat on and express ourselves and let's see how far we can go as a batting unit," he added.

Mushfiqur said that Chandika Hathurusingha coming in as head coach has helped the team build up momentum ahead of the world cup.

"It's had been great so far with the new coach coming and we had a good build-up and hopefully if we can just continue with this momentum throughout this year I think we will be a very good team in the world cup," he concluded.