Mushfiq sweating it out to regain lost confidence

It's a well-known fact that Mushfiqur Rahim is the hardest worker among the Bangladeshi cricketers. He turns up at practice sessions earlier than everyone and he is generally the last man to leave. His dedication to the game is exemplary and it has made him the country's one of the finest. 

But the same Mushfiqur has remained the pale shadow of his old self for quite a long time now. He has had a horrible time especially in the T20 format and was dropped from Bangladesh's squad for the Pakistan T20Is. 

It was the first time since 2008 that the veteran was left out of a format and that seemed to have worked counterproductively for him. Mushfiqur started practicing an hour and a half before the scheduled time on Wednesday ahead of the first Test against Pakistan starting on Friday. 

Mushfiqur returned home after playing the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe because of a family emergency earlier this year. He missed out on the Australia series but returned to the team against New Zealand. 

Apart from a fifty against Sri Lanka, Mushfiqur has had a forgettable 2021 with the bat in T20Is and that was the reason why he was 'dropped' from the team against Pakistan.

But the experienced batter doesn't want the shorter format demons to haunt him in Tests. That's why he is sweating it out ahead of the first Test of the series in Chattogram. 

Mushfiqur had three throwers bowling to him at the nets at the southern part of the ground. It's quite obvious that he was trying to restore the lost confidence. He was seen getting angry with himself whenever he failed to play a shot to perfection.

He then faced the pacers and spinners during the scheduled practice session. There he practiced the conventional sweep and slog-sweep.

Unlike the T20 format, Mushfiqur has been in decent form in Tests. His scores in last four innings in Tests are - 68*, 40, 40 and 11. Bangladesh will face Pakistan in the first Test of the two-match series on November 26.