Mohammad Rafique, who has cemented his place in Bangladesh’s cricket history as a legendary spinner, turned into a full-fledged batter in this year’s Victory Day Cricket match. His blistering 58 off 36 balls powered Shahid Jewel XI to a commanding 9-wicket win in the Victory Day Cricket encounter.
Batting first, Shahid Mushtaq XI, led by Minhajul Abedin Nannu, posted 128 runs in the allotted 15 overs. In response, Rafique’s batting brilliance ensured that Khaled Mashud Pilot’s team chased down the target with 4 balls to spare. Rafique, opening the innings, batted with a strike rate of 161.11, smashing 6 fours and 2 sixes before being bowled by another celebrated spinner, Abdur Razzak.
Rafique’s opening partner, Ehsan, remained unbeaten on 43 runs, while the other not-out batter, BCB’s Cricket Operations Chairman Shahriar Nafees, contributed 16 runs. Together, they secured the win for Shahid Jewel XI with ease.
Earlier, Nannu’s team had a solid start thanks to Mehrab Hossain Opi and Hannan Sarkar. However, before the partnership could reach 50, Opi fell for 14 runs off the bowling of Faisal Hossain Dickens. The other opener, Hannan Sarkar, managed to score 25 runs. At the end of 15 overs, Shahid Mushtaq XI posted 128 runs, losing 5 wickets in the process.
For Jewel XI, Talha Zubair and Mohammad Rafique took 2 wickets each. With his all-round performance — scoring a match-winning fifty and taking 2 wickets — Rafique was rightfully adjudged the Man of the Match.
