Fizz set to make a splash as a Sussex Shark

With his magical displays for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad whetting their appetites, the Sussex Sharks will finally be able to field young Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman when they take on Essex  Eagles in their Natwest T20 Blast match at Chemsford later today. 

The match will get underway at 7:00 pm local time (12:00am Bangladesh time). 

Mustafizur, who has taken the world by storm with his accurate and indecipherable cutters since his international debut against Pakistan in April last year, has been courted by Sussex since early March 2016. 

He was supposed to depart for the UK as soon as he arrived from India in May. However, he could not leave due to certain fitness concerns. He had lost plenty of weight while playing for Hyderabad in the IPL. As a result, the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to give him a break which included the Eid holidays, after which visa complications further delayed his departure for Sussex. 

With such a long wait to field one of the most promising young bowlers in the world, especially in the limited-overs formats, Sussex were understandably excited to get Fizz into the dressing room at Hove.

“And here #TheFizz next to his locker! He'll make his debut for Sussex Sharks tomorrow!,” read a status update on Sussex’s instagram page on Wednesday. 

And here #TheFizz next to his locker! He'll make his debut for Sussex Sharks tomorrow! #GOSBTS #sussexfamily #sharkstogether

A photo posted by Sussex CCC (@sussexccc) on Jul 20, 2016 at 1:10pm PDT

Mustafizur, who said he was excited by the chance to learn in new conditions before his departure on Wednesday morning, is likely to play a total of seven matches and is expected to stay in the UK till August 2.