‘Mushfiqur Rahim will have a successful Test series’ - Jamie Siddons

Mushfiqur Rahim is not having the best of times with the bat in the longer format for Bangladesh. However, ahead of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, Rahim has found support in batting coach Jamie Siddons, who has said that the prolific scorer for Bangladesh will find his form.

As reported to Cricbuzz, Siddon said, "Every batsman goes through patches where they don't make runs. The way he is hitting them last two days I'm convinced he will make runs here this week. We are looking forward to watching him bat. I have seen a couple of really good signs, we worked on a couple of little things with him, and I think he is gonna have a really successful series."

Mushfiqur's last Test hundred came way back in 2020. Since then, he has scored only four fifties, including one against South Africa recently. Siddons explained that Mushfiqur is not worried about himself and expects him to showcase his old self starting May 15.

Siddons said, "I think what Mushy is focusing on is the next two Test matches. I don't think he is worried about his career in any format, I think he is worried about making runs for us in these two Test matches. He is focused on red-ball cricket at this moment. White-ball cricket, I think he is quite successful. Any good player has moments where they don't make runs. But they bounce back, that's why they are great players."

Siddons added that putting additional pressure on a player after a poor series makes no sense, and it does more bad than good to his mentality.

He explained: "I think Mushy is the most successful Test player (in Bangladesh) because he keeps making runs. He might have a period like South Africa, but he will make runs again,'' he said adding that there is no need to put pressure on any individual just because he has had one bad series. So, you guys need to stop talking negative. Don't put pressure on them. Just because they miss out in one series, don't put pressure on them."

Talking about Sri Lanka, Siddons said that the visitors have a quality pace attack, and the hosts will need to bring their A-game to beat them. "Challenges are that Sri Lanka are a really good bowling side, and a really good batting side. We will have to be on top of our game to compete against them and win the Tests," he quipped.

In conclusion, he stressed that Bangladesh wants to win the series and play tough cricket across all five days.