I would like to thank members like Godzilla and rest, who were always genuinely interested in why I hate Mushfiqur's guts so much. Now while I have explained it many times in my time here in numerous posts, it occurred to me that I could bring it all together in one article. No harm in doing so. So here it is, meant for those of you who are genuinely interested. For Mushy lackeys who never engage with any of my other non-Mushfiqur posts, and only raise their voice when I write a Mushy post, you are not for discussion, you are for anti-free speech and player worship. And you can bet your bottom dollar I will point it out again and again when your hero makes a mistake.
Peace out. Merry Christmas and very happy new year!
Roey
The Case Against Mushy
Mushfiqur Rahim is a fiery character in Bangladesh cricket. He has had many good knocks in the past, such as the mammoth 144 vs Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Asia Cup, which is second only to Tamim’s 154 as the highest ever ODI score by a Bangladeshi batsman. His ODI batting average since the last world cup in 2015 is a stupendous 47, which pales in comparison to the likes of Kohli and co, but it is still considered a very respectable average in any era of the gentleman’s game. But on the topic of batting performances, it was not always so sunny for Rahim, or Mushy, as his fans like to call him. After being introduced to the ODI side in 2006, his batting average in his first 40 games was a measly 19. He was persisted with only because he played for a developing cricket side like Bangladesh. To be fair to the selectors, his average kept going up by 1 run for every year calendar since then. It took all but 10 years for his ODI batting average to cross 30 runs, which is bare minimum for a good batsman in the international circuit.
Since the world cup however, his form has been sublime for the most part with only a sour patch in the middle where he could not get runs. But even after such strong showing in recent times, his average is still a paltry 33 which is reflective of his early growing years and the mind numbingly slow climb to his position in the team now, again coming at the courtesy of a developing side like Bangladesh. However presently, he is pretty much indispensable not only performance wise, but also because of the reassurance that he brings to the middle order every time he comes on to bat. Indeed, you do not see too many batsmen in the Bangladeshi side on a given day who can rotate the strike as effortlessly as one Mushfiqur Rahim can. But apart from the early sacrifices of persisting with basket cases like Rahim when Bangladesh was still a minnow, what else have they sacrificed because of his presence? The objective minded fan must answer that million-dollar question. At present, the painful investment has paid off in batting terms. True, he would not make it in any other top 8 side back then, and he would certainly not make it to the present Bangladesh side due to the rise of expectations that comes with shaking off the minnow tag. It is like getting a terrible deal on a mortgage, where you feel cheated every month, and only after paying it off after 10 years do you feel good as you have a wonderful house to show for. Therefore, Bangladesh now have a Rahim who is a solid bat and someone who should definitely be part of the XI whenever he is fit to play. But batting aside, how else has Rahim contributed to Bangladesh cricket in his 12 year career thus far?
Let us cover the positives first. Rahim is ambitious, which is fantastic. It takes a certain degree of ambition to believe in yourself after such a shaky start to your career. It was not his fault that he kept getting picked. He at least had the heart to keep trying to better himself where his average would slowly ascend at sloth like pace. Rahim also has good work ethic according to journalists, though the work ethic of journalists themselves can be questioned, as they sometimes write pre-pitched stories without any validation. But I think it can be surmised logically that a person who has self-belief like Rahim would not take his work regimen lightly. I am sure he has worked extremely hard to get to where he is today, which should be enough testament to his work ethic. It pains me to say however that this is where I will have to stop singing his praises as his rap sheet is a long one.
Mushfiqur is narcissistic. He likes to be in the center of attention at all times. He constantly chirps from behind the wickets as if he has the necessary acumen of a bowler himself. He says the most basic things such as “to bowl in the right areas”. If bowlers do not implicitly know that they have to bowl in the right area, I question their place in the national squad to begin with. But Rahim does it because he loves attention. He will also make disparaging remarks to stay at the center of attention. He will scold players left and right from behind the stumps. For not hitting the right lengths, for misfields, bad throws etc. One may argue, that you need such an enforcer in the team. Here is the problem. In order to be such a figure, you first need to be very skilled at what you do! Or you are just throwing stones from a glasshouse. So it comes as a huge shock to anyone who has been following Bangladesh cricket over the last decade or more that Rahim has been a terrible wicket keeper. He has gotten better in recent years. His stumpings are especially noteworthy. But he continues to drop catches, which has plagued him all throughout his career as a wicketkeeper. In addition, because he is very short, some potential regulation catches are simply not possible for him to reach. In such a case, the best thing to do would be to give up the gloves at the earliest opportunity, especially when you have developed yourself into a reputable bat. But Rahim has not expressed any desire to do that, which brings us to his second major flaw which hurts the team, i.e., his insecurity. He has said many times before, that he “enjoys keeping”. We enjoy a lot of things, but for the sake of the betterment of the team we have to sacrifice things. But Rahim is not interested. Because he has taken so long to bloom into a proper batsman, he still feels insecure about his place in the team. Thus retaining glove duties gives him extra leverage in his eyes, even though it hurts the team immensely, firstly because of his ineptitude with the gloves, and secondly because his chirping habits which are not backed up proficiency and hence does not draw respect from his teammates. If anything, it demoralizes them as they look at him as this petty man with a Napoleon complex.
Aside from being a poor communicator and a historically bad wicketkeeper (historical because no other team in history has continued to stay with a wicket keeper who drops as many chances as Rahim, for e.g.: you don’t see Kamran Akmal play for Pakistan any longer, though I am sure he would like to), Rahim is pretty immature, for the lack of a better word. Too many times, he has done things which have left people bemused and prompted questions on the professionalism of the Bangladesh squad as a whole. He is a notorious premature celebrator, and never seems to learn from his mistakes. He seems to forget, that even if Bangladesh beat a side, they might have to play them again in the future. It also misses him how a team should set forth a certain level of expectation by not celebrating every victory, especially when they start improving in the hopes of reaching championship caliber level one day. But he does all this because of the aforementioned point of attention seeking syndrome, which he clearly suffers from.
Simply put, the man is too emotional. He once cried in a press conference when a certain club executive said he is not captaincy material. When the team does badly, his chirping behind the wickets disappears completely. After every missed catch, he hangs his head in shame. This is a hallmark of insecure bullies. When the going gets tough, they disappear. But when the team does well of course, his domineering scolding and posturing from behind the stumps rears its ugly head again, his wild celebrations makes a comeback.
These things will not go away, because they are a part of his personality. He should remain in the side on the merit of a batsman only. No person would have an issue with that. The problem manifests when his army of fans try to oversell him and his role in the team. Yes, he is a good batsman. Yes, he is a gritty character who works towards his own interest. But he is a bad wicketkeeper, and he is not good for the locker room. As long as we can agree to talk about it all when unpacking his career and impact on the team, I don’t ultimately care what your personal opinion of the man is. Let’s not blindly cheer any player. Let’s critique them as we see fit.