The two sides of Mushfiqur’s T20I coin

Nicknamed 'Mr. Dependable', Mushfiqur Rahim has undoubtedly lived up to the billing in Tests and ODIs for Bangladesh. However, the same can not be said of his T20 career as the 35-year-old has had a rather fluctuating one,spanning over 15 years and 102 matches, in the shortest format of the game. As the cricketer called time on his T20I career on Sunday, The Daily Star looks at two major highlights from his T20I career, depicting the ups and downs.

The hero of Bangladesh's record chase

With 115 required off 63 deliveries and eight wickets in hand, Mushfiqur had arrived at a crucial moment in their T20I against Sri Lanka at the Nidahas Trophy back in 2018. Building on the platform laid by Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das, Mushfiqur went on to play his career-best unbeaten 35-ball 72-run knock to help Bangldesh assail a daunting 215-run target, which still remains as the highest chase by the Tigers in the format. In an innings laced with five boundaries and four maximums, it was Mushfiqur who never let the run-rate spiral out of reach for the Tigers that night in Colombo.

The infamous premature celebration

Neither Mushfiqur nor any Bangladesh fan will ever forget what had transpired that night in Bengaluru in 2016. Bangladesh had the chance to knock India out of the T20I tournament in their own backyard and the chance to seal their first win in the format against them. Mushfiqur, having struck Hardik Pnadya for two successive boundaries, celebrated with fist pumps and bat swings. However, it only deepened the sadness for the entire nation as Bangladesh went on to lose the game by 1 run, with Mushfiqur caught at midwicket and Mahmudullah Riyad and Mustafizur Rahman following suit in the final three deliveries of the game.