BSS, Dhaka :
Mustafizur might hog the limelight for his epic performance against India in 2015 in a three-match ODI series which Bangladesh won by 2-1 but he actually made his International debut with a T20 match against Pakistan.
Displaying an intriguing show of cutter and slower, he claimed 2-20 in four overs in that match to help Bangladesh win it and later was adjudged man of the match. But his entry to national team was not straightforward. Despite playing the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, his talent went largely unnoticed.
However it was BCB director Khaled Mahmud Sujon, who firstly identified the talent of Mustafizur after watching him to execute the cutter and slower in perfect way in a net session.
Before the one-off T20 match against Pakistan, the then coach Chandika Hathurasingha asked Mahmud whether they have any left-arm pacer in their kitty. Hathurusingha mainly wanted to bring a variation in bowling line up with a left-arm pacer.
“I said we have two pacers at this moment-one is Abu Haider Rony who could swing the ball in almost perfect manner while the other one is Mustafizur Rahman whose expertize is his cutter and slower,” Mahmud, also the former captain of Bangladesh revealed the story during a live conversation with Tamim Iqbal, Naimur Rahman Duujoy and Habibul Bashar Sumon in facebook on Sunday night.
“Hathurusingha then told me to bring up Mustafizur here. Mustafizur was then in Satkhira at his home. Upon receiving the news, he came to Dhaka and performed beyond the expectation,” Mahmudu recalled.
Hathurusingha then decided to make him debut in ODI series against India, despite knowing that India bolstered with supreme batting line up. Nevertheless his gamble paid off as India’s much-vaunted batting attack that included the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no answer to Mustafizur’s deadly cutter and slower.
Displaying an intriguing show of cutter and slower, he claimed 2-20 in four overs in that match to help Bangladesh win it and later was adjudged man of the match. But his entry to national team was not straightforward. Despite playing the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, his talent went largely unnoticed.
However it was BCB director Khaled Mahmud Sujon, who firstly identified the talent of Mustafizur after watching him to execute the cutter and slower in perfect way in a net session.
Before the one-off T20 match against Pakistan, the then coach Chandika Hathurasingha asked Mahmud whether they have any left-arm pacer in their kitty. Hathurusingha mainly wanted to bring a variation in bowling line up with a left-arm pacer.
“I said we have two pacers at this moment-one is Abu Haider Rony who could swing the ball in almost perfect manner while the other one is Mustafizur Rahman whose expertize is his cutter and slower,” Mahmud, also the former captain of Bangladesh revealed the story during a live conversation with Tamim Iqbal, Naimur Rahman Duujoy and Habibul Bashar Sumon in facebook on Sunday night.
“Hathurusingha then told me to bring up Mustafizur here. Mustafizur was then in Satkhira at his home. Upon receiving the news, he came to Dhaka and performed beyond the expectation,” Mahmudu recalled.
Hathurusingha then decided to make him debut in ODI series against India, despite knowing that India bolstered with supreme batting line up. Nevertheless his gamble paid off as India’s much-vaunted batting attack that included the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no answer to Mustafizur’s deadly cutter and slower.
