Prove you special again, Bashar says Mustafizur
Image : Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh national team selector Habibul Bashar Sumon urged pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman to prove him special again by trying different things as he became very predictable for the batsmen in the recent days.
Even though he took wickets regularly, Mustafizur of late leaked runs in abundance and became easy prey for the batsmen, which he was not to be in the past because of his variation in Yorker, cutter and slower.
Playing for Rangpur Rangers in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL), Mustafizur finished with figure of 4-37-2 in the first match against Cumilla Warriors.
While in his first two overs, he conceded just 6 runs to claim those two wickets, he missed his yorker and length repeatedly in the last two overs, for which Cumilla captain Dasun Shanaka punished him in disdain to take 31 runs, including 25 runs in his last over, hitting four towering sixes, one of which is considered as the longest six in BPL history.
Shanaka finally helped Cumilla amass 51 runs in last two overs and eventually led the side’s 105-run win over Rangpur.
Mustafizur’s last over is regarded as the key to Rangpur’s big defeat in the first match as it put an adverse impact to the whole team. He missed his yorker, which is a key weapon in limited over cricket’s death overs to tie the batsmen down.
“I think he needs to rethink his bowling. It’s high time for him to go for plan B, since for batsmen he is now easy to read,” Bashar said.
“A cricket should think how he can do well when he becomes predictable to the batsmen. If we look at yesterday’s match, he bowled really well in the first two overs but in the last two overs, he was completely predictable. In T20 Shanaka is very good batsman but Mustafizur didn’t try anything different. He was bowling in the same length and conceded six after six to Shanaka.”
Bashar further said that Mustafizur’s wicket-taking ability won’t come good for Bangladesh if he continues leaking runs in such manner.
“He still is getting wickets and even he claimed five wickets in some matches. He is Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in the last one year but he was expensive, especially in the death overs. He is considered a special bowler for Bangladesh. If he continues leaking runs in such a manner, it creates pressure on others. From what we have seen, his tendency to leaking runs, put adverse impact on the team, even though he took wickets,” Bashar added.
Bashar however disclosed that it’s high time now for Mustafizur to prove him the special bowler for the country.
“At the end, the performance matters. Like other people, I also believe he is a special bowler but he now would have to prove it again.”
