Mushfiq surprised by early declaration
The decision to declare paid instant dividends as Nayeem Hasan opened the bowling and took two wickets - Prince Masvaure and Donald Tiripano, two players that were tired from being on the field for a day-and-a-half - to have the visitors reeling at 9-2 at stumps.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored his career's third Test double-hundred was eying a triple hundred and didn't expect a declaration from captain Mominul Haque on the third day of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Mirpur.
"To be honest, I didn't think we'd declare so early. We still have two more days. The wicket will deteriorate the more we bat. At the same time, the team comes first. Even during Tea, there was no talk of declaration," Mushfiq said at the post-day press-conference.
But during the third session, it was informed that Bangladesh would like to "make Zimbabwe bat for 6-8 overs", according to Mushfiq and that's when they started to accelerate their batting.
The decision to declare paid instant dividends as Nayeem Hasan opened the bowling and took two wickets - Prince Masvaure and Donald Tiripano, two players that were tired from being on the field for a day-and-a-half - to have the visitors reeling at 9-2 at stumps.
"The previous plan was to bat for as long as possible and if he could reach triple figures, I'd go and try to get my first Test triple hundred. It wouldn't have happened today but maybe in the first session of day four. If I get an opportunity again, I will try to utilize it," Mushfiq added.
There was a cloud covering for a majority of the day with a smattering of rain from time to time and that could have been another reason to declare but Mushfiq believed that the bowling attack was "good enough" to dismiss Zimbabwe with the 295-run first-innings lead that Bangladesh have.