Reports: Mustafizur Rahman keen on bagging IPL deal

Mustafizur Rahman has made an impressive beginning to his ODI career

Nineteen-year-old Bangladesh sensation Mustafizur Rahman is reportedly keen on bagging a lucrative contract in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next season. The left-armer has had a sensational start to his One-Day International (ODI) career, having picked up a 5-wicket haul and a 6-wicket haul in his first two games for Bangladesh.

While not blessed with too much pace, he has a few clever variations up his sleeve, including a well-disguised slower delivery, with which he has managed to bamboozle a number of the Indian batsmen. His performance in the first game, where he took 5 for 50, could have been explained by the fact that the Indian players had not seen him before and needed some time to get used to him, but Mustafizur backed that up with an even better display in the second ODI as he took an astonishing 6 for 43 from his 10 overs to bundle out the Indians for a mere 200.

It has emerged that Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has sought MS Dhoni’s help in trying to get Mustafizur an IPL franchise, with Dhoni reportedly having replied in the affirmative to Mortaza’s request.

Meanwhile, Dhoni & Co. will be intent on making sure that Mustafizur does not get on top of them in the third ODI on Wednesday as they aim to restore some pride and make sure that they avoid a series whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh.

Asked how they aim to counter the threat of Mustafizur during the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Ravichandran Ashwin, rather cheekily, answered: "There isn't a counter as such. I mean what can we do? Can we kidnap him (Mustafizur)? See it's not media news. It's international cricket.

He also added a note of caution for Mustafizur, saying that there will be much closer scrutiny on him going forward and that his real challenge of sustaining himself at the highest level starts from now onwards.

"He is a good bowler, you cannot deny what he has done or take the respect away from him. I am also happy for him, but I think the challenge starts here for him. As an international cricketer, I know it much better than anybody else. Now, people are going to watch out for him," Ashwin concluded.