Mushfiqur Rahim is about to board the team bus, on its way to the airport. The Tigers travelled from Adelaide to Auckland yesterday. PHOTO: BCB

Mushfiqur Rahim proved that hard work is always the key behind any success.  The little right-hander has now been tagged as the 'Mr Dependable' of Bangladesh's batting line-up

Bangladesh's Test captain deserves maximum credit for what the Tigers have achieved so far in the ongoing World Cup. His 89-run innings against England was another example of maturity.

"I think I am now more matured and now I know what I need to do in the middle. In the first 60 to 80 matches I could not actually understand what I needed to do or play according to the conditions. But everything is now clear to me.

"And you know that our domestic structure is not as good as it is required to be so I had to learn everything by playing international games," said Mushfiqur, who so far played 144 ODIs and 43 Tests.

The batsman, who scored 89 in the last game said that while he had hoped to go on to reach the three-figure mark in Adelaide, he wasn't disappointed to have missed it. "Honestly speaking I was a little sad to have missed out on the century by 11 runs. Everybody wants to achieve a milestone after all. But what would have happened had I got the hundred but my team lost. In the end the win was most important," explained Mushfiqur.

 "If you consider the conditions, then this was definitely our best win. It's a great thing to play good cricket in Australia and New Zealand," remarked the little right-hander. While he didn't get a century, his partner at the other end, Mahmudullah Riyad had become the first Bangladeshi to reach the landmark. It was an event which Mushfiqur enjoyed a lot as he threw his fist in the air after diving full length into the crease to complete the much required single.

Furthermore Mushfiqur admitted that it was difficult for him to forget what had happened with his Riyad during his tenure as captain as many reckoned that Riyad was in the side solely because of him.

"I was honest and I believe in honesty. I had always said that this is not my team rather it's a team for the country. It's nice to see him (Riyad) scoring runs regularly."

Mushfiqur was extremely confident ahead of their clash against New Zealand. He believed that anything could happen as long as they played good cricket.