Mustafizur Rahman had disturbing figures of 6-0-53-0 against India in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy. It was not just the figures that were concerning, as a bowler can have a bad day, but it was his tendency to be full-ish on off-stump that was the main cause of concern. The left-arm pacer from Satkhira was out of this world on his arrival to international cricket, but he was nowhere near that mastery during the ICC Champions Trophy.  Since his return from shoulder surgery, the young paceman had some good performances under his belt, especially his sublime bowling in the Test series in Sri Lanka, but still many have been searching for that old Mustafizur who baffled the batsmen with his cutters and slower balls, especially in ODI cricket. Does the problem lie in him losing his mastery post injury?  Or is it that opponents can now read him well? Or did the conditions in England hinder his success?      

In fact, it is not just in England -- his record pre and post surgery are in marked contrast as he took 26 wickets from nine matches at 12.34 before injury and 18 wickets from 13 matches at 30.55 after surgery. 

Three local cricket experts -- Nazmul Abedin Fahim, Sarwar Imran and Mohammad Salahuddin -- however have some common observations about the decline. They have identified the problem in technique and a lack of patience in the bowler, rather than blaming the conditions or injury, and suggested that it is the perfect time for the young prodigy to work on many aspects of his bowling to rediscover success at international level.

Veteran coaches Nazmul Abedin and Sarwar Imran identified a major problem in the point and angle of release.  Young coach Salahuddin, who is a mentor to many national cricketers, found the problem in his line and length and he also said that the patience required to be successful in England was lacking in Mustafizur.

“We have high expectations of him. You cannot say that he was too bad since he has been returning from injury. But what I want to say is that he is now far away from where he was before injury.  In my opinion he lost effectiveness only because of changing the position of his delivery stride when releasing the ball,” said Nazmul Abedin.

“If you look at the videos, you will see that earlier he was closer to the stumps when releasing the ball but now he bowls from wide of the crease; that has created problems. Earlier he bowled stump to stump, and that made his cutters and slowers more dangerous. But now, going wide of the crease takes the leg-before out of contention for right-handers and also, if he bowls it on off stump, the batsman knows that the ball will miss the stumps because of the angle."

Sarwar Imran echoed the sentiment. “Earlier he was closer to the stumps but now he is away from the stumps -- that makes the difference. Because of that he didn't find the right areas, because of which the batsmen have no fear about playing shots. He should find his old release point, otherwise I am sure he will not be that effective even in home conditions.”

“Another thing is that he cannot bring the ball back [into the right-hander]. He will have to improve his bowling and add more things like the length ball,” he added.

Salahuddin said that the bowler should understand that he will need to improve a lot. “Pakistan's Hasan Ali was successful because he maintained the right length and bowled in the right areas, which was not the case for Mustafizur. I think he lacks the experience or the knowledge to be patient and maintain the basics in different conditions. I don't think he has to do many things; rather he has to stick to his strengths.”

One thing the three experts agreed on is that the Champions Trophy can be a good lesson for the young paceman.