‘Compete with yourself’ – Mushfiqur Rahim recalls Stuart Karppinen’s lasting influence

Mushfiqur Rahim stands apart from the rest of Bangladesh’s cricketing fraternity, with several Bangladesh cricketers unanimously agreeing that no one can match the legendary batter’s work ethic and discipline. While many of his long-time teammates are approaching retirement, Mushfiqur remains as driven as ever, continuing to push himself to achieve greater success.

Mushfiqur credits former Bangladesh national trainer Stuart Karppinen for transforming his approach to fitness. He insists that he still follows the advice imparted by the former Australian domestic cricketer. Karppinen served as Bangladesh’s strength and conditioning coach from 2004 to 2006 before returning as the team’s physical high-performance manager between 2012 and 2016.

“When I first got the opportunity to play for the national team, we had a trainer named Stuart Karppinen. I think in the history of Bangladesh cricket, nobody like him ever came and I doubt if anyone like him will ever come in the future. I have worked with a lot of wonderful trainers over the years, but one thing that he said has stayed with me and I remember it till date,” Mushfiqur said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“Being a guy who came from Under-19s to represent the country, and getting noticed (by Stuart) amidst the crowd was naturally (big)… as there were legendary players like Sumon bhai (Habibul Bashar), Pilot bhai (Khaled Mashud), Rafique bhai (Mohammad Rafique), Mashrafe bhai (Mashrafe bin Mortaza) and even Ashraful bhai (Mohammad Ashraful), with all of them in their peak form. Because they (senior players) were almost 30-plus, and I was just a 17-year-old who landed in the national team, so naturally such a youngster would have more speed, quickness and running. But what stuck with me was when he (Stuart) told me that I can easily compete with them (the senior players) with all the work that I was doing back then, due to my age,” he added.

Mushfiqur revealed that Karppinen advised him to work on his own and focus on competing with himself rather than measuring his progress against others. The Bangladesh veteran said the approach helped him develop both physically and mentally, allowing him to continually raise his standards and strive for improvement.

“Another thing that he told me was to make sure I work alone. When you work alone, no one can see you. A lot of times, there are hurdles. When you do certain training in one minute, you can do it in one and a half minutes because no one is watching. Even during weight training sessions, you can do four reps instead of six for the same reason,” said Mushfiqur.

“And when you do it perfectly and honestly, it becomes a habit. All thanks to the habit that was built at that young age. I think it is a blessing that he (Stuart) helped me have an impact in my game,” he added.