Little giants rule Galle

                Mohammad Ashraful raises his arms in elation after reaching his hundred against Sri Lanka on the third day of the Galle Test yesterday. The enigmatic batsman’s record-breaking knock of unbeaten 189 put Bangladesh on a position of relative strength in the first Test. PHOTO: AFP

The towering Galle Fort and the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean are easily visible just beyond the boundaries of the Galle International Cricket Stadium. Inside though
, Sunday belonged to two little men – Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim – as they danced to their own merry tune to script a new history on a red-letter day for Bangladesh Test cricket.
If Ashraful reintroduced himself to the cricketing world with an unbeaten, sparkling, chanceless innings of 189 against his favourite opponent, then his skipper Mushfiqur showed why he is considered the most accomplished batsman in the country with a similarly classy unbeaten 152; his second ton after his maiden one against India.

               Ashraful occupied the crease for a record 486-minute vigil to eclipse his previous best of 314 minutes that he had achieved during his 129-run unbeaten knock against the same opponents at P Sara in 2007. But the specialty of this innings was that he did not take single risk except once when he tried to push the ball towards third man when he was on 97.
This was a new Ashraful who went on his way to record the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi batsman. Mushfiqur’s only blip came when he was on 103 but otherwise his innings too was spotless. Driven by the exploits of the duo Bangladesh fought back strongly against Sri Lanka finishing the third day on 438 for 4; their highest against the Lankans as the earlier best was 413 at Dhaka. But the score alone  would hardly do justice for what was achieved for Bangladesh cricket through the masterful batting of Ashraful and Mushfiqur, who set a new Bangladesh Test partnership record for any wicket during the unbeaten 261-run fifth wicket stand eclipsing the previous best of 200 made by Tamim Iqbal and Junaed Siddiqui against India at Mirpur in 2009.
There had been a lot of talk about the Bangladeshi batsmen’s inability to occupy the crease long enough but it can be said that the critics must think twice before making such comments in future after the way two batsmen batted to raise the hope not only of turning the tide against Sri Lankan but also script a new history for the country.
                Losing two wickets in the entire day and batting out the last two sessions without any damage was something new in the history of Bangladesh cricket and it was created by the two diminutive batsmen, who did exactly what was needed in the batting paradise of a wicket. The pitch was without any doubt a batting paradise but it can’t take away the credit from the two Bangladesh batsmen. There has been a number of records set by their batting as it was only the first time two Bangladesh batsmen crossed the 150-mark in an innings and two batsmen made hundreds for the second time but their effort would be remembered for the skill, patience and temperament they showed during their mammoth partnership.
                When Bangladesh lost two more wickets in the first session after resuming the day of 135 for two, many feared for yet another collapse but things changed because of Ashraful’s new-look determination and Mushfiqur’s calmness and it also brought back the memory of their brilliant 100-plus run partnership during the 2007 visit in the country at P Sara.
Young Mominul also deserves some praise for his maiden half-century as his innings gave the team confidence in the morning. Mahmudullah Riyad though, must be kicking himself, after he went down the wicket to charge the ball and got stumped. Ashraful and Mushfiqur, however, made sure that he will be released from the burden of the criticism.

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