Dhaka Tribune Sports remembers few of Mustafizur Rahman's top moments in his glittering career so far on his 26th birthday
Mustafizur Rahman, one of the best left-arm seamers in white-ball cricket in recent years, has turned 26 Monday and Dhaka Tribune Sports remembers few of his top moments in his glittering career so far:
Memorable ODI debut and fifer against India
Mustafizur made a dream debut in his ODI career as he took five wickets in his very first game against mighty India’s batting line-up and Bangladesh won the match by 79 runs in June, 2015. Mustafizur’s five wickets earned him the man of the match award and the left-arm pacer also took five wickets in the second game where Bangladesh again won and clinched the series, which seemed a shocker to the cricket world at that time. Mustafizur took 13 wickets altogether in that series with a stunning 11.53 average.
IPL win with Sunrisers Hyderabad
A superb season in 2015 earned Mustafizur his maiden call to the Indian Premier League as Sunrisers Hyderabad roped in Mustafizur for the 2016 season. In his very first season, Mustafizur bowled brilliantly throughout the tournament and played a crucial role behind Sunrisers' title win in that season. One of the best moments of his stellar season for Sunrisers in 2016 was perhaps when he bowled Andre Russell with a perfect yorker. Mustafizur took 17 wickets in 16 matches for Sunrisers with a stunning economy rate of just 6.9.
Also Read: Royals wish Mustafiz on his 26th birthday
Five-for against New Zealand in 2016 T20 World Cup
Five-wicket haul against Zealand in Kolkata during their T20 World Cup encounter is another Fizz moment we can count. Mustafizur took five wickets conceding 22 runs in his four overs. He took the wickets of Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Grant Elliott, Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum. Although the Tigers lost the match by a huge margin, by 75 runs while chasing 146, Mustafizur produced his magic on a slow surface in Kolkata and in a World Cup game for Bangladesh.
20 wickets in 2019 World Cup
Although Bangladesh bowlers had a difficult run in the 2019 World Cup, Mustafizur bowled well throughout the tournament, particularly in the death overs. Mustafizur took 20 wickets in the 2019 World Cup from just eight matches with 24.2 average and 6.9 economy. Mitchell Starc was the highest wicket-taker with 27 wickets in 10 games. Mustafizur took back-to-back five-wicket haul in the last two games, against India and Pakistan in Edgbaston and Lord's respectively.
Happy birthday to the joint third highest wicket-taker at the 2019 @CricketWorldCup, Mustafizur Rahman 🎂
— ICC (@ICC) September 6, 2021
To celebrate the day, relive his five-for against India at Edgbaston 🖐 pic.twitter.com/jbFq1pobNr
Bowled five dot balls in 19th over against Australia in a close contest
The latest Fizz moment can be picked from very recent times, against Australia on a home series during the first week of August. During the third T20I, when Mustafizur came on to bowl the 19th over of the second innings, Bangladesh were 2-0 up and had the chance to wrap up the series against Australia. Two experienced batsmen, Daniel Christian and Alex Carey were batting at that moment and Australia needed 23 runs in 12 balls, which was definitely possible to chase with six wickets in hand. Then Mustafizur produced his magic and gave away just one run in that 19th over. Five dot balls in a crucial over like that sealed Bangladesh’s victory and ensured a famous series win over the Aussies. Although Mustafizur remained wicketless, his bowling figure, 4-0-9-0 was absolute masterclass.
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