Three years ago Mustafizur Rahman, like any other aspiring fast
bowler, arrived in Dhaka and constantly hunted for opportunities to play
professional cricket. He approached coaches and clubs until he was
noticed.
Three years on and he has been voted the debutant of the year 2015 by
ESPNCricinfo, the world's most sought-after cricketing website.
The transitions in the left-hander's career have been quick. With
every match he played, his responsibility grew and the beauty about it
all was that he managed to shoulder that responsibility.
From being a mere youngster thrown into the side against the mighty
Pakistanis in 2015, he has gone on to become the go-to bowler in the
national team. And his rise has been noticed by the entire world.
With the entire Bangladesh team displaying an attacking brand of
cricket, there are plenty of aspects that opponents these days tend to
focus on while playing against them, but the most prominent among them
has been the Mustafizur factor.
It's something that India and Sri Lanka pondered about during the
Asia Cup and it's something that every side in the World Cup will have a
special plan for.
The numbers he recorded in 2015 were phenomenal and that was the main reason why he was voted the best newcomer.
He played nine ODIs, scalped 26 wickets and finished with an average
of 12.34. When it comes to bowlers having bowled at least 70 overs in
2015, his bowling average remains the best. These numbers were recorded
against the likes of Pakistan, India and South Africa.
Mustafizur has begun his career with a bang. However, the best part
about the calm-headed pacer is that he is continuing the good run.
Bangladeshi players are often guilty of fading away from international
cricket after a short period of fame, but with the case of Mustafizur,
at least for now, the scenario seems completely different.
The one thing that seems certain is that he never seems content. Just
being able to bowl the odd cutter did not seem enough for him. And so
he went on to learn another version of the slower delivery, the one that
he uses frequently against left-handers.
To add to that, he has improved quite a bit in terms of swinging the
ball and is also able to fire in yorkers when required. He is a skilled
bowler who seems to understand the game well.
With a long road ahead, one only hopes that the left-hander's hunger to yearn for more remains.
Mustafizur wasn't the only one to be acknowledged. Tamim Iqbal and
Soumya Sarkar were awarded the batting pair of the year under the
openers category in ODIs. In 10 partnerships, Sarkar and Tamim put
together 540 runs with three century stands at an average of 54. The
impact that their partnership had on the team was the highest amongst
all. In terms of numbers their partnership factor was 51.12 which was
far better than the second highest pair of Brendon McCullum and Martin
Guptill, who averaged 39.94.
