Mosaddek Hossain has been in the international cricketing circuit for about six years, but on Sunday afternoon, he perhaps had the ‘weirdest’ moment of his career at the Gabba.
After successfully defending 15 runs in his final over against Zimbabwe in a T20 World Cup fixture, Mosaddek and the other members of the Bangladesh team were walking back to the dugout amid cheers from fans, when the umpires called back the players on the pitch.
The giant screen at the Gabba displayed the two words - ‘Not Out’. And even before the players could realise what was going on, Mosaddek was back at the pitch, gearing up to bowl his final delivery once again. It was a free hit for Zimbabwe, which needed four runs to seal the deal.
Mosaddek fired it full and across. Blessing Muzarabani missed it, paving the way for Bangladesh’s three-run win. As the players celebrated the moment, it was a sigh of relief for Mosaddek.
“We had to control our nerves. When we walked into the pitch again, we were clear in our heads that we have to execute our plans. The rest was not in our hands, but we were putting in our best efforts,” Mosaddek said, a few minutes after the cliffhanger.
Before bowling the final delivery, he had a chat with captain Shakib Al Hasan. And banking on his experience, Shakib advised the youngster that he should bowl at back of length outside the off stump.
“My plan was simple. I knew that I would follow my captain’s advice and not think about anything else. It did not matter if I got hit for a four or six, but I just wanted to go by whatever Shakib bhai said. I had the backing of my captain,” he said.
Such situations could often be tricky, and Mosaddek admitted that it was a challenge to focus all over again. “We knew that we had already celebrated our victory, so to pull ourselves back to the pitch again and focus was certainly a challenge. But in a way, this helped us because by the time the Zimbabwe batters took the pitch again, they seemed lost because they were trying to come to terms with a loss. So, they were a bit down when the non-striker batter (Ryan Burl) was saying something to Muzarabani. Even before they could settle in, we finished our job.” the spinner said, “Our only target was to ensure that we don’t concede a boundary…”
The captain had informed him from the 16th over that he would have to do the final over of the day, and he had to be prepared accordingly. “But yes, this was a completely new experience and initially, it was a challenge to settle in and again bowl one more time.” Mosaddek said. “We were sticking to our plans and I am sure, after today’s win, everybody will be confident of pulling off a victory from any situation. That’s what this victory means for us,” the 26-year-old added.
The victory has helped Bangladesh climb up in the points table, and the team firmly believes that moments like Sunday will make it stronger, better and prepared for every situation.
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