ZCZC
BSP-19
CRICKET-MASH-FIZZ
Fizz’s form pleases Mashrafe
DHAKA, May 29, 2019 (BSS) – Mustafizur Rahman’s opening spell against India in the last warm-up game on Tuesday was the most enthralling thing for the Bangladeshi fans as he kept much-vaunted Indian top order on toes, moving the ball admirably in both ways.
Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma looked clueless when Mustafizur swung the ball with high pace, something which was rare because he was not famous for moving the ball. He rather is expert in cutter and slower which also was in display.
However Mustafizur’s first spell read 5-1-19-1, a thing that even earned high praise from skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. He however was not as threatening in the second spell as he was in the first one. He ended the match with figure of 8-1-43-1. Bangladesh eventually lost the game by 95 runs but Mashrafe picked up Mustafizur’s first spell as the most inspiring take away from the game.
Mustafizur has not had a consistent run since the Asia Cup last September when he took 10 wickets in Bangladesh’s runners-up finish. He picked up a four-wicket haul against West Indies, during the tri-series earlier this month, but has otherwise been expensive with both the new and old ball of late.
“I am quite relieved seeing Mustafiz bowl at his old pace,” Mashrafe said about the 23-year-old left-arm seamer. “He bowled well too, and picked up his pace around 140kph at times. If he can bowl like he usually does, our bowling becomes a very different unit. I also got a lot out of Rubel [Hossain] and [Mohammad] Saifuddin. We expected to do better with the new ball after not having done well in Ireland.”
BSS/SMP/SMM/1650 hrs