‘Felt good that the Aussies weren’t able to charge me’

Many compared Mustafizur Rahman's performances in the just-concluded five-match T20I series against Australia to his outstanding entry to international cricket in 2015, when the left-arm seamer burst onto the scene with magical cutters and slowers that fooled world-class batsmen from around the globe.

The 25-year-old has was phenomenal with the ball in the Tigers' historic 4-1 series win against the Aussies, utilising he home conditions and the pitch to great effect.

He ended with seven wickets from five games with an outstanding economy of just 3.52. Following those extraordinary performances, the Fizz is enjoying a well-deserved break, spending time fishing in his hometown of Satkhira.

"I am enjoying this break a lot. I can't explain how much to be honest. I think every other player would tell you the same," Mustafizur told The Daily Star over the phone.

He had picked up an ankle injury ahead of the Australia series, hurting himself prior to a Test in the preceding series in Zimbabwe, and Mustafizur believed it was crucial for him to get into rhythm.  "When you deal with small niggles, there is a gap. Once you are out of the field, you tend to lose that rhythm. I was also a bit worried because I injured my ankle ahead of the Test match in Zimbabwe, but thankfully I am back in good rhythm," he said.

Mustafizur felt satisfied that see none of the Australians were able to go after him, saying that keeping the process right was key to his success. "It felt really good to see that none of the Australian batsmen were able to charge me. I kept my processes right in regards to my bowling. It was also important to bowl in the right spots because I felt that if I could bowl in a given area, it would help both me and my team. I tried to focus on that. Getting wickets is also a matter of luck and my tendency has always been to try and bowl dot balls, especially in the white-ball format. Bowling dot balls will help improve my economy and it will also benefit my team," Mustafizur said.

However, there have been questions regarding Mustafizur's performances away from home and according to the left-arm seamer, he is still learning and looking forward to improving his stats away from home as well.

"It's totally different playing at home compared to abroad. There is a huge difference in terms of the pitches. There will normally be a lot of runs when you play abroad. If you concede somewhere between 40-50 in Bangladesh, it's good on a relatively sporting track, but it won't be the same if you play on a true wicket abroad and expect the bowlers to concede around 40 runs. It's very difficult to contain runs abroad. I do have the tendency to bowl dot balls and it's not that I know everything, I am still learning every day and looking forward to improving my stats away from home as well," he added.

Another young left-arm seamer, Shoriful Islam, is also taking big strides and has shown a lot of promise. The youngster has also been getting valuable tips from Mustafizur whenever he is around the 'Cutter Master.' "He [Shoriful Islam] comes to me and asks for suggestions and I try to help him whether it's with cutters or slowers or various other aspects of bowling. It's not like what I do will work for him, but I try to help him and Shoriful has the desire to learn, which is a good sign from a youngster," Mustafizur added.

Mustafizur, who was part of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League before the tournament was stopped midway, informed that he was looking forward to joining the side if the Bangladesh Cricket Board gave him a No Objection Certificate (NOC).