Under-25 cricketers from prominent Test nations who could be the next big superstars in world cricket

Bangladesh – Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman has already become a match-winner for Bangladesh despite having played less than 50 international games

From a rich cricketing legacy, we come to a country that is building its own legacy, perhaps for the coming ages to remember. Dominance at home has been the forte of every other cricket nation of late, and Bangladesh joining the league must not be related to their ‘minnow’ status that they have desperately tried to shrug off over the past two years. One youngster, for certain, who has been the face of the newly-found legacy of Bangladesh cricket has been the 20-year-old Mustafizur Rahman.Two five-wicket hauls in his first two games against arguably the best batting line-up in limited-overs cricket at the time announced Mustafizur’s arrival for sure, but to maintain that over a year now, with the skill and the ability to disguise the best in the business has been something unforeseen in the country’s cricket history.

Taking the variations that come with seam bowling to the next level, Mustafizur has carved out a niche for himself and hasn’t stopped just there. He has backed that with consistency. 26 wickets from 9 ODIs at 12.34 and 22 wickets from 13 T20I at 13.95 are short but promising stats that add to his guile with the cross-seamed cutters that have been the talking points in cricketing galleries for quite some time now. The only thing that the young prodigy needs is care and nourishment. A team cannot bank upon a single player to win the game, but then, in cricket, often in the scarcity of a quality line-up, one man proves out to be the difference. Mustafizur has already been that man, but he needs to be a lot more than that.