Netherlands’ bowling all-rounder, Mudassar Bukhari, has officially drawn curtains on his One-day and four-day international career. The medium-pacer will continue to represent his national team in the shortest format of the game.
The promising all-rounder and pinch-hitter played for the Netherlands A side for a long period of time before receiving his maiden call to the national side in 2007. With a record of 57 wickets in 47 matches in his ODI career from 2007 to 2014, he ranks the highest wicket taker in the 50-over game for the Netherlands.
Bukhari made his international debut during the Intercontinental Cup match against Canada in 2007, in which he scored 66 runs along with a wicket in his very first delivery. Although he plays for Netherlands, he is originally of Pakistani descent.
But his best performance in ODI cricket was seen more recently when he was playing against the UAE cricket team during a WCL Championship match. In this stellar performance, he took 6 for 24 to take his side to a win. Another highlight of his career was a Man-of-the-Match performance against Canada in the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, when he scored 85.
Bukhari’s best bowling figures of 3 for 17 were seen against Kenya in 2010. He has 5 man-of-the-match awards to his name in international cricket.
Increased competition for the designation of a pace bowler, with the rise of Paul van Meekeren and Vivian Kingma, the all-rounder was not picked for Netherlands' most recent WCL Championship match against Nepal, in which the visitors lost by 19-runs. Bukhari made his last Intercontinental Cup appearance for Netherlands against Afghanistan in July, finishing with a figure of 0 for 33 in 11 overs.
Father of two young daughters, Bukhari said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, something he has always missed while being away from home on tours.
"I've enjoyed every second with the Dutch team. I want to thank everyone that supported me through the years. First and foremost my wife, who so often had to put up with long absences when I was on tour but I'd also like to thank the rest of my family, the board and the team, and also our opponents - who after all ensured I could play in so many great games," he was quoted saying.
We will continue to see Mudassar Bukhari’s game in the T20s.
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