Rafique shows he's still got it
Playing for the ACME Strikers, Rafique scored 51 runs from 30 balls and took three wickets in the two games he played, and was the star of the show.
Despite being away from competitive cricket for 13 years, Mohammad Rafique showed that he's still got the magic touch with both bat and ball.
In the ongoing Legends Champion's Trophy being held at the Sheikh Kamal international stadium in Cox's Bazar, the former Bangladesh left-arm spinner dominated proceedings.
Playing for the ACME Strikers, Rafique scored 51 runs from 30 balls and took three wickets in the two games he played, and was the star of the show.
In the first match, Rafique was economical, conceding just 10 runs from 22 balls while picking up two wickets in the 10-over per side tournament where former Bangladesh cricketers are playing.
With the bat, he was his usual swashbuckling self hitting a few dazzling sixes in the relatively small ground.
This tournament is being held in a different format of 10.10 overs.
Rafique didn't take any time to get settled in and started hitting from the beginning as he scored 22 runs from 13 balls in an innings that had three sixes.
Rafique continued his good form with the bat in the second match as well as he scored 29 runs from 17 balls in an innings that had four boundaries and one six.
When bowling, he took one more wicket and helped his team to victory in both games.
The 50-year-old was adjudged man-of-the-match in the first game and at one point one of his teammates even said, "Don't you age man?" which prompted a rye smile from Rafique.
"There is no secret. I'm playing with all my other teammates and I sort of know who has what weakness and strength. They know mine as well. The fact that we're here together and playing cricket together is the biggest plus for me," Rafique, a man of a few words said after the match.
A tournament called Masters cricket involving former national team cricketers have been organized yearly since 2017.
But this year, the name of the tournament has changed and so too has the format.
That, however, has not changed the way the former cricketers play and Rafique was grateful that the players were able to play together like old times.
"We have been playing together in this tournament but this year the format has changed and that has meant we have to adjust ourselves accordingly. But it's great that we can all play together," Rafique added.
This 70-ball tournament had four matches on the first day with ACME winning against Gemcon Titans and Boishakhi Bengals.
In the other two games, J'Adoube Stars were defeated by Boishakhi Bengals and Expo Raiders were defeated by Narayanganj Warriors.