Mehidy Hasan supports Mushfiqur Rahim after his unusual dismissal, saying, “He didn’t do that intentionally.”

Mushfiqur Rahim, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter, was out in an odd way on the first day of the second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Dhaka. The 36-year-old attempted to seize the ball near the stumps during a furious partnership after playing a backfoot defensive off of Kyle Jamieson’s bouncer. After the event, when the on-field umpire gave him out and Mishfiqur had to walk back after scoring 35 runs, the Kiwis filed an appeal.

Mehidy Hasan, in the meantime, defended Mushfiqur and said that it was entirely accidental following the day’s play. He also remarked that it happened with the flow and made comparisons to Angelo Mathews’ “Timed Out” dismissal in the just-finished ODI World Cup. Hasan went on to say that Mushfiqur was eliminated because he was unable to decide quickly.

“Look, this one just happened naturally; it wasn’t intended. No one desires to go knowingly. Throughout various gaming scenarios, a lot of things are racing through one’s head. We were fortunate to get a timed-out dismissal against a Sri Lankan batter during the World Cup, but today’s events involving Mushfiq bhai transpired seamlessly.

“After playing a shot, when I am batting, I have to make quick decisions about what I can and cannot do when the ball approaches the stumps.” Undoubtedly, he didn’t do that on purpose, Hasan was cited by NDTV as adding.

If we bowled in the appropriate locations, we thought we could make their lives difficult. Mehidy Hasan

Bangladesh came back strongly with the ball after being knocked out for 172 runs in the opening inning. By the end of the day’s play, New Zealand was 55/5 thanks to three wickets taken by Mehidy Hasan and two by Taijul Islam. The Najmul Shanto-led squad was behind by 117 runs as they looked to win the game and complete the series.

As Day 1 came to an end, Hasan said they sought to use their knowledge to put pressure on New Zealand because they know the conditions really well.

After the game, Mehidy remarked, “We thought we could make life difficult for them if we bowled in the right areas.” We had a battle with their spinners. Our bowlers were more confident that we could get more out of this pitch because we are very familiar with these conditions, according to Hasan.