Image Source- AFP
Due to the on-again, off-again unseasonal weather, not
much cricket was played in Dhaka today, but little was played gave Mustafizur
Rahman the chance to demonstrate some crucial rhythm before the World Cup.
A player like Mustafizur would typically be a lock to
make Bangladesh’s World Cup fifteen, but the team management and selectors were
seeking for hints of this rhythm due to the team’s poor form. Even if his
statistics for this year are impressive, he has been acting strangely in most
of his periods since last year, and Shoriful Islam has been moving up in
Bangladesh’s left-arm pacer hierarchy for some time. Shoriful is a guaranteed
selection for the World Cup after bowling well enough in the Asia Cup to earn a
break in this series. Mustafizur has one series to make his best case for
getting a job on his own.
He had seven overs and grabbed three wickets while
allowing just 3.85 runs per over. He rarely bowls with that kind of economy,
and it was even less common that he took two of his three wickets within the
opening powerplay. Prior to Wednesday, he had only ever accomplished this four
times in 90 ODI innings, with the most recent occurrence occurring in January
2021, 20 months ago.
He has been focusing on honing his skills with the new
ball as batters have been figuring out more and more of his old-ball techniques
since about the beginning of 2022. He is noted for using cutters and slower
balls in the death overs. After today’s postponed ODI, Nic Pothas, an assistant
coach for Bangladesh, revealed as much.
Pothas said that the skills needed to bowl with the
new ball and being a death-overs specialist are very different things. Pothas
believes Mustafizur is experienced enough to excel in both areas. “Those
two roles are very specific. They almost live in two different boxes. It is no
different to a batsman playing a particular type of innings and then having to
do range hitting at the end.
“[But] these guys are professionals. They have to
be able to do anything. He prioritises very well. He is very experienced.”
