Mustafizur in IPL- A New Frontier

[aklemalp]

One cutter, two cutters. Slow cutter, fast cutter. Mustafizur Rahman, more commonly known by the masses as the Fizz. I call him The Prince of Mirpur.

Ever since he's made his entry into the world stage, he's been a bowler who's one step ahead of the batsman. He loves this chess game between bat and ball. Every time that he has taken a wicket, his smiles turn to grins and he celebrates with the customary clap of his hands like he is a spectator. The world got to see part of this ritual in the recently concluded T20 world cup.


The familiar celebration by Mustafizur

He had a protracted world cup campaign; for most of the qualifying stages, he was unavailable due to a side strain injury. He played his first match of the world cup against current 50-over world champs, Australia. There were rumors that he was not 100% fit prior to the match, but the coach and captain had no choice but to include him after they lost Taskin Ahmed to a ban. He dismissed captain Steve Smith with his signature cutter- a delivery that Smith will remember very keenly. Smith was his first world cup victim; one of the most consistent batsman in world cricket at the moment.

Next up was hosts India, a match most Bangladeshi fans would want to forget... I'll make this brief. Mustafizur had a decent showing and picked up two scalps: Rohit and Jadeja.

He would save his best for last against tournament favorites(at that time) New Zealand. A career-best figure of 5 for 22, included the prized scalp of skipper Kane Williamson. It was an inconsequential match and Bangladesh lost comfortably, succumbing to the strong bowling lineup of the Kiwis. Bangladesh recorded their lowest T20 total while The Prince of Mirpur was scaling mountains.

So at this juncture, Mustafizur finds himself settling into his IPL team- Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bangladesh cricketers in the IPL are a huge and a rare thing.

In the Sunrisers' squad, Mustafizur will be sharing the dressing room with the likes of David Warner, Eoin Morgan, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, and skipper Shikhar Dhawan. The most prominent feature in this squad is that there are two other left-arm pacers who are experienced and celebrated on the world stage: Trent Boult and Ashish Nehra.

Tom Moody, the coach of the Sunrisers had very encouraging words for Mustafizur and he's very confident with him in the team. "I feel he[ Mustafizur] is more than comfortable and happy in big match situations. We have full confidence that he will adapt and adapt quickly.", said Moody.

If Mustafizur is going to play an integral role in the structure of the team, then he will have to be used in conditions that favor his style of bowling. I predict that most of the pitches in the IPL are going to be flat and the Fizz will have to make the most of the opportunities presented.

Unlike many of his fans, I welcome this new frontier that Mustafizur will be exposed to. The potential of his wicket taking ability and his very humble demeanor is a good recipe for him to be a fan favorite among the Sunrisers' fan base. Exposure allows more people to see him; it is a positive thing. I look forward to this.

So what will be a good matchup? Kolkata Knight Riders' Shakib versus Sunrisers' Mustafizur? Just imagine Shakib coming into the latter stages of KKR's inning and trying to up the scoring rate, and Mustafizur playing spoil-sport to Shakib's ambitions and knocking his middle stump out of the ground! Imagine the celebrations...

There are many other prized matchups that Mustafizur will face. I do hope that he takes the most out of the competitiveness and leave the tournament with skills learned, respect earned, and wisdom gained.

I wish him all the best and hope he makes everyone proud with his brand of cricket. Go Mustafizur!!! Go Fizz!!! Show them what The Prince of Mirpur is all about!!!!

[Wakidul]

Aklemalp... I'm genuinely touched by your love and best wishes for our team bro, it comes through in this article, which was nicely written my friend! Thanks!.

If only everyone including bdeshi people ourselves had that kind of love to all other nations.

[aklemalp]

You're welcome Wakidul bro. Let's see how he handles the scene of the IPL.

[Anik SH]

If Musta gets injured I want every relation to be cutted down with BCCI.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Anik SH
If Musta gets injured I want every relation to be cutted down with BCCI.

Nah, I wouldn't want that to happen.

[icricket]

aklemalp, I really enjoyed reading it. To me it was your best writing that you shared with us on bc so far. Keep up the good work.

btw, is that your real name or pseudo name or a mixture of both?

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by icricket
aklemalp, I really enjoyed reading it. To me it was your best writing that you shared with us on bc so far. Keep up the good work.

btw, is that your real name or pseudo name or a mixture of both?

Thank you for taking the time to read the piece. I am fortunate to have this medium to share a couple of paragraphs of my perspective of Mustafizur in IPL.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

My real name is visible.

[mufi_02]

nice write up singh. you could have avoided the last paragraph "I wish.." because then it stops being an objective article and becomes more of an op-ed piece (which is fine if that's what your intention was to begin with). just a constructive criticisms as we Bengalis are very generous with that

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by mufi_02
nice write up singh. you could have avoided the last paragraph "I wish.." because then it stops being an objective article and becomes more of an op-ed piece (which is fine if that's what your intention was to begin with). just a constructive criticisms as we Bengalis are very generous with that

I'm open to the suggestions...The last paragraph just brought out the inner exuberance in me.

Oh well, keep the constructive criticisms coming

[Tigers_eye]

History will say, Sultan Fiz conquered Mirpur in 2015. Then he went on to conquer Ind and England in 2016 - IPL and County.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
History will say, Sultan Fiz conquered Mirpur in 2015. Then he went on to conquer Ind and England in 2016 - IPL and County.

Ah yes, Hyderabad has a rich culture

[cricketboy]

Zaheer Khan, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahrukh Khan impressed with Mustafizur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYp0OTZeuP0

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by cricketboy
Zaheer Khan, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahrukh Khan impressed with Mustafizur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYp0OTZeuP0

How did they got SRK into the comm box?

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
One cutter, two cutters. Slow cutter, fast cutter. Mustafizur Rahman, more commonly known by the masses as the Fizz. I call him The Prince of Mirpur.....

Ever since he's made his entry into the world stage, he's been a bowler who's one step ahead of the batsman. He loves this chess game between bat and ballI predict that most of the pitches in the IPL are going to be flat and the Fizz will have to make the most of the opportunities presented....

Unlike many of his fans, I welcome this new frontier that Mustafizur will be exposed to. The potential of his wicket taking ability and his very humble demeanor is a good recipe for him to be a fan favorite among the Sunrisers' fan base. Exposure allows more people to see him; it is a positive thing. I look forward to this...



There are many other prized matchups that Mustafizur will face. I do hope that he takes the most out of the competitiveness and leave the tournament with skills learned, respect earned, and wisdom gained.

What a good first match. Other bowlers taken apart. He got ABDV and Watson. The battle with Sarfaraz is one that will last many years...

[aklemalp]

Next frontier=> get to the top of the list of wicket takers

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
History will say, Sultan Fiz conquered Mirpur in 2015. Then he went on to conquer Ind and England in 2016 - IPL and County.

Accurate as f#!#