Cricket

The cool of Sussex suits The Fizz

On his Natwest T20 Blast debut, Mustafizur Rahman showed why Sussex lusted after his talents with a sublime performance, picking up four wickets for 23 runs. PHOTO: COLLECTED

There's something about Mustafizur Rahman and his debut games. It's not as though he has not put up magical performances after his firsts, but he almost always manages to conjure up something special at the first time of asking.

From scalping the wicket of the ever dangerous Shahid Afridi in his first ever T20I to his five-wicket haul on ODI debut against India, from winning the Indian Premier League in his first go to taking three wickets in an over in his first Test, the accolades have been arriving non-stop.

The left-armer continued the trend when he finished with figures of four for 23 in his debut game for Sussex in the NatWest T20 Blast yesterday. It was a typical Mustafizur performance.

The batsmen either produced towering hits in the air courtesy of edges or failed to read his cutters and had their stumps rattled.

But what made the performance a lot more special was the fact that the left-armer had only reached the United Kingdom the day before. He barely had enough time to adjust to the conditions or even the weather.

That reflects the immense amount of confidence that the youngster has in his own abilities. It was a performance true to the statement that the left-armer most commonly uses during media interactions. “I don't really plan on anything. I will just bowl when the captain asks me to,” is something that he says every time reporters ask him about his strategy.

While he forced Ravi Bopara to sky one in the air, he tricked James Foster -- who was looking to move away to the off side and sweep -- with a fuller delivery that splayed the stumps. Three balls later he produced a yorker to dismiss Callum Taylor and then got Ryan Ten Doeschate caught at short fine-leg in the last over.

Speaking to The Daily Star for a brief moment yesterday, Mustafizur indicated that he was enjoying the cooler weather in the UK and that that made things a lot easier for him.

His performance got his captain Luke Wright excited, so much so that he is already hoping Sussex can sign the left-armer up for the next season. He was delighted that Sussex stuck with the idea of bringing him over despite injury delays, and doubts over his willingness to play.

Speaking to wscountytimes.co.uk, Wright said: “We got criticised for hanging on but that's why we waited. He's a special talent and we have to enjoy him while we have him. He's an unbelievably skilful bowler. To have him bowling those death overs as well as he did, the day after he came in, and hardly being able to speak any English was superb.”

“I'd sign him for the next ten years in T20 if I could but we have to be realistic. Bangladesh have got a seriously talented bowler who they are going to have to look after, and wrap in cotton wool. A lot of franchises will throw a lot of money at him and that's a commodity we haven't got a lot of but if he's happy and loves it then it would be great to get him back,” he added.

Sussex keeper Craig Cachopa got his first chance to keep to Mustafizur in this match, Wright commented: “Chops said afterwards that it looks like every ball is going to be a slower ball then it absolutely zips through. I'm just glad I don't have to face him to be honest. He can swing it both ways at pace and he's got a really good slower ball too.”

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The cool of Sussex suits The Fizz

On his Natwest T20 Blast debut, Mustafizur Rahman showed why Sussex lusted after his talents with a sublime performance, picking up four wickets for 23 runs. PHOTO: COLLECTED

There's something about Mustafizur Rahman and his debut games. It's not as though he has not put up magical performances after his firsts, but he almost always manages to conjure up something special at the first time of asking.

From scalping the wicket of the ever dangerous Shahid Afridi in his first ever T20I to his five-wicket haul on ODI debut against India, from winning the Indian Premier League in his first go to taking three wickets in an over in his first Test, the accolades have been arriving non-stop.

The left-armer continued the trend when he finished with figures of four for 23 in his debut game for Sussex in the NatWest T20 Blast yesterday. It was a typical Mustafizur performance.

The batsmen either produced towering hits in the air courtesy of edges or failed to read his cutters and had their stumps rattled.

But what made the performance a lot more special was the fact that the left-armer had only reached the United Kingdom the day before. He barely had enough time to adjust to the conditions or even the weather.

That reflects the immense amount of confidence that the youngster has in his own abilities. It was a performance true to the statement that the left-armer most commonly uses during media interactions. “I don't really plan on anything. I will just bowl when the captain asks me to,” is something that he says every time reporters ask him about his strategy.

While he forced Ravi Bopara to sky one in the air, he tricked James Foster -- who was looking to move away to the off side and sweep -- with a fuller delivery that splayed the stumps. Three balls later he produced a yorker to dismiss Callum Taylor and then got Ryan Ten Doeschate caught at short fine-leg in the last over.

Speaking to The Daily Star for a brief moment yesterday, Mustafizur indicated that he was enjoying the cooler weather in the UK and that that made things a lot easier for him.

His performance got his captain Luke Wright excited, so much so that he is already hoping Sussex can sign the left-armer up for the next season. He was delighted that Sussex stuck with the idea of bringing him over despite injury delays, and doubts over his willingness to play.

Speaking to wscountytimes.co.uk, Wright said: “We got criticised for hanging on but that's why we waited. He's a special talent and we have to enjoy him while we have him. He's an unbelievably skilful bowler. To have him bowling those death overs as well as he did, the day after he came in, and hardly being able to speak any English was superb.”

“I'd sign him for the next ten years in T20 if I could but we have to be realistic. Bangladesh have got a seriously talented bowler who they are going to have to look after, and wrap in cotton wool. A lot of franchises will throw a lot of money at him and that's a commodity we haven't got a lot of but if he's happy and loves it then it would be great to get him back,” he added.

Sussex keeper Craig Cachopa got his first chance to keep to Mustafizur in this match, Wright commented: “Chops said afterwards that it looks like every ball is going to be a slower ball then it absolutely zips through. I'm just glad I don't have to face him to be honest. He can swing it both ways at pace and he's got a really good slower ball too.”

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