Mustafiz does Bangladesh proud

Currently in India, I have had a feel of the heat generated by the climactic phase of the IPL 2016 series. Only last Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad were beaten hands down by Kolkata Knight Riders. Within three days, they turned around and won the vital eliminator by defeating KKR and qualified to meet Gujrat Lions on the way to the final. Royal Challengers Bangalore are already there.

Mustafiz's role in the crucial win against KKR was marked by superbly tight bowling with toe-hitting yorkers and deceitful off-cutters topped up by dot balls in the final overs. Although he went wicketless, his contribution to the victory in the eliminator has to be seen in light of his holding the run rate low making the required target of KKR leap to a point of impossibility.    

It could not be lost on anybody that Musrafiz was unlucky in seeing catches from his bowling on, at least three occasions, fly to places far off from where fielders were positioned. Nonetheless, he was continuously creating trouble for the opposition batsmen, who treated him with palpable respect.  The unmistakably effusive praise showered by the commentators was in keeping with the trend of appreciation that he has garnered throughout the tournament.

Mustafizur Rahman, lovingly called Fizz, has enjoyed superlatives ranging from `revelation from Bangladesh', mesmerising and magical, from wide array of cricket icons. His protagonists included David Warner, his captain at SRH, AB de Villiers, Ravi Shastri, Muralidharan, Tom Moody, only to name a few. 

In the high voltage series with 14 matches being played by each team in the league stage, even the world's best would be decoded. Mustafiz earned the accolade of being a world class bowler and retained his emerging bowler status, age and consistency taken into account, one with the best economy compared favourably with the highly experienced Sunil Naraine of KKR.

Of the first ten top bowlers, Mustafiz is fourth with 16 wickets and an economy of 6.75 with his best being 3 for 16.  Even though he went wicketless for three of the 15 matches, he was hit for lesser number of sixes and fours compared to other bowlers. Easy catches were dropped off his bowling which would otherwise have spiked his figures further up.

So compelling was his performance that even when he ran into a relative bad patch, Indian newspapers said he might not have taken wickers, but he would freeze the run rate for sure. Indeed he has come out as one of the best death over bowlers preparing the ground for victory of his team or making the chase easier for it. There has been some talk about his being sparingly used in the power-play overs which perhaps took away from him the label of strike bowler. In one low-scoring match, in the initial phase, when Ashish Nehra was brought in, the expert commentators hub ranted a difference of opinion, one group supporting Nehra's introduction, while the other favoured Mustafiz to keep runs on the leash.

In a crunch encounter, a renowned commentator gave an interesting insight into how pressure from the Mustafiz overs led to batsmen losing wickets to other bowlers. It reminds one of an anecdote of Imran Khan's team in England in the early eighties when home batsmen were falling to the mediocre bowling of Mudassar Nazar on the other end under pressure built by the super-fast Imran and company. Among Mustafiz'z scalps were Virat Kohli who is having the best of times, 81 shy of creating cricket history with one thousand runs in a single IPL and so on.

The debutant has proved to the world that much that he is a wily bowler, his stand-out simplicity has endeared him to people in IPL hosts India and elsewhere in the cricketing world. Merely 20-years-old, he has turned out to be an ambassador of Bangladesh's goodwill which otherwise requires many seasoned diplomats to foster in years.

He has the reportedly Wasim Akram's tricks-set and Aussie bowler Mitchell Starc's prowess as potential strike bowler in power- play and in death overs. His bowling action is effortless, free from any hint of grimace and flowing disguising his change of pace and delivery. In a word, he is shaping up to be a bowler of mystic qualities and class.

The whole of Bangladesh followed the fortunes of the team that Mustafiz played for and his performance curve has kindled patriotism among all age-groups and inspired the youth looking for a career in cricket. The deluge of runs in Bangladesh Premier League and the wicket-taking feats by youngsters on the domestic circuit hold up hopes for Bangladesh emerging as a cricketing power. The Government and private sector must do everything in their power to bolster the new found pride in cricket and may be in other sports.     

The writer is a contributor at The Daily Star.