BCB chief says he is surprised to see Mushfiqur can hit sixes

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan has said that he was unaware of the fact that Mushfiqur Rahim could hit sixes; though the record shows immediate-past Test captain is the second highest hitter of sixes among Bangladeshi batsmen with 117 over-boundaries in international cricket.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur’s aggressive batting with four sixes and five boundaries propelled Bangladesh to chase the highest T20 total and won the match against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

He was unbeaten at 72 off 35 balls in chasing 215 runs and became the man of the match.

“We knew that Tamim and Soumya could hit like this. We did not know that Liton could hit so hard. And of course, did not know about Mushfiq!” Nazmul told the media in Colombo on Sunday.        

“In fact, I told Mushfiq in front of everyone that I did not know he could hit like this,” he added. 

Opener Liton Das scored 43 off only 19 balls.

Nazmul also said Mushfiqur was “always caught at the boundary whenever he tried to hit sixes in past two years”.

“I always said that he was not a player who can hit sixes. He can hit well, but not sixes,” he said.

According to Nazmul, Bangladesh have only three players who can hit sixes – Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarker and Sabbir Rahman.

But, records show that Mushfiqur is one of the Bangladeshi batsmen who hit big regularly.

He has hit total 117 sixes in international matches, including 29 in Test, 62 in ODI and 26 in T20 – the second highest by any Bangladeshi batsman.