“My son was never interested in bowling”
BIPIN DANI
In an age when all-rounders dominate the headlines and multi-dimensional players are hailed as the game’s future, Mushfiqur Rahim has carved out a singular space in cricketing history armed only with a bat and gloves. The ever-dependable Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter has now become the highest run-scorer in international cricket among players who have never bowled a single delivery. In the recent Galle Test, Rahim surpassed Australian legend Adam Gilchrist’s tally of 15,461 runs, scaling past the 15,500-run mark a feat unmatched among his non-bowling peers.
Speaking from Bangladesh, his proud father Mahbub Habib shed light on this distinctive career choice. “Mushfiq was never interested in bowling. Right from the start, he was drawn only to wicket keeping and batting,” he shared. While many renowned keepers including India’s MS Dhoni have rolled their arm over in international matches (with Dhoni even picking up a wicket in an ODI), Mushfiqur never once dabbled with the ball. His unwavering devotion to his dual role with the gloves and the bat is rare in an era of versatility.
The record is all the more striking considering Bangladesh’s cricketing landscape. Not a single other Bangladeshi batter has crossed even 3,500 international runs without having bowled a ball. Mushfiqur’s milestone, then, becomes not just personal but national a testimony to an unorthodox journey built on precision, patience, and pure batting grit.
Back home, the moment was marked by both pride and poignant absence. The 38-year-old’s wife, Jannatul Kifayet Mondi, remained in Dhaka, caring for their two young children seven-year-old Mayan and little Shehar, just one-and-a-half years old—too young to accompany their father on tour. Interestingly, Mondi also shares a familial cricketing link, being the sister of Jannatul Kawsar Mishti, wife of former captain Mahmudullah Riyad.
As Mushfiqur continues to defy convention and push boundaries with the bat, this latest achievement is a quiet, yet powerful reminder that in cricket, legacy isn’t always measured by how many roles one plays it’s sometimes defined by how singularly one performs their own.
