'I liked Tamim's celebration'

As soon as Tamim Iqbal hit a boundary through fine-leg, he jumped in the air; removed his gloves and, oddly enough, signalled the crowd in a way that suggested the player was saying to them 'talk now'. It was a gesture against all the criticism that he had faced in the last few months.

While the left-hander, who hammered a brilliant 132, wasn't available at the post-match press conference, his partner in crime, Mushfiqur Rahim supported Tamim's reaction.

"He didn't share the meaning of his reaction, but I think anyone can understand what he wanted to say. The last four to five months, everyone has been talking about him and his form. I believe Bangladesh has produced very few batsmen like Tamim and very few will come in the future.

"He didn't get out to bad balls in the last few matches and with regards to the World Cup, there were several good players who couldn't even score 200 runs. Against Scotland he gave us a good start and that was crucial. Players go through bad phases and that's a part of cricket," explained Mushfiqur.

"It's not your fault. It's your job to analyse a player's game. But I hope everyone will realise that in situations such as these if he receives support, rather than saying that he is done, that will be good for him. So I liked the celebration," he added.

Tamim and Mushfiqur put on 178 runs for the third wicket, which is Bangladesh's highest ever stand in ODIs. Elaborating on the way they planned the stand Mushfiqur said, "The one thing I tried to remind him was that he had scored several 50s and 60s before and then got out while trying to play an aggressive shot.

"I told him that this was the kind of wicket that if you stick around, you can score plenty of runs. So from that aspect he played a very mature innings and to be honest, I am really surprised that I got the player of the match award," said Mushfiqur.

Mushfiqur hammered a 77-ball 106 and his innings at the end proved to be one of the major reasons that pushed Tamim on. The inside-out shot which he played a number of times yesterday was a result of frequent practice in the nets, explained the wicketkeeper-batsman.

On a personal note there was another reason for Mushfiqur to be happy. "After my marriage this is my first century, so I am really happy about this innings. I had come close before but failed, but those innings helped my team win. So I was happy with those as well, but this one is different," exclaimed the diminutive batsman.