I remember my cousin’s disbelief at how good Mitchell Starc is. As he was ripping off batting line-ups after batting line-ups in the World Cup 2015, my cousin sighed bated breaths while saying, ‘wish there was a left-arm pacer like him in Bangladesh.’
By the end of the year, Mustafizur Rahman popped up within the circuit of Bangladesh cricket.
Mustafizur came, Mustafizur saw, Mustafizur conquered.
No fast bowler made an impact as strong as Mitchell Starc did in the international scene. The last time a pacer instantly put so much fear in the minds of batsmen was the legendary Shane Bond. However, among left-arm pacers, Wasim Akram was the last of the southpaws.
But then Mustafizur Rahman came, and now there was another pacer, along with Starc, who was taking the world by storm.
He arrived in the scene against India, instantly shooting himself to stardom with 11 wickets in his first 2 games. He didn’t stop there; a quick look at his averages would and you would see that in all 6 formats—domestic and international—his bowling doesn’t go above 18.
It gets better with the fact that his bowling average doesn’t go above 15 in the international scenario. It’s still early days, but after a year of international cricket, it is impressive.
Ability to bowl a strict line length with pace
His skinny figure might make one believe that he can’t generate much pace, but it is far from the truth. Initially, he bowled consistently at 130, but now touches 140 kmph every now and then.
But almost every bowler can bowl like that, so what makes him so special?
His line and length are always strict and he rarely ever bowls a bowl that can be easily dispatched by the batsman. He doesn’t swing the ball much, but his ability to drop the ball exactly where it needs to be, makes him above average in the first place.
And then there is his well-disguised slower ball
Most of his wickets have come in the form of his so-far undetectable slower ball. As he played his first IPL game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, his first victim came in the form of an AB De Villiers who was batting at the peak of his powers—and yet couldn’t read the slower one as he hit it straight in the air and into the hands of Eoin Morgan.
Replays comparing his regular delivery and slower ones show absolutely no difference, hence, it will always be a weapon that the batsman would have to guess rather than read.
Composed character, doesn’t let pressure get to him
So far, he has the pace, the discipline in pitching and a surprise element; but all these are worthless without a character.
He might only be 20 years old, but his composure is beyond his years. Unlike most of the 20 years old of this generation, he goes quietly about himself and doesn’t seem to be like the fancy type of player who oozes an extravagant lifestyle.
On the pitch, most bowlers lose it after being smacked over the fence—something that happened to his Hyderabad team-mate, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, while bowling against Sarfaraz Khan—but not him. Despite the adversity or the stature of the batsman he is bowling, he doesn’t let the pressure get to him as he continues bowling with maturity.
An example of this can be found in his IPL debut game itself. As his bowling mates were being ripped apart—no SRH bowler conceded less than 9 runs an over in their spells—he bowled immaculately on a flat deck and conceded only 26 runs in the 4 overs that he bowled and took two very important wickets of Shane Watson and AB De Villiers.
In fact, if David Warner used him wisely, rather than finishing half his quota within the powerplay overs itself, RCB might not have even made that many runs.
It is this mature head on his shoulders that allows him to stay focused and not get intimidated with the circumstances. When you read his comments about his performances, that border on indifference, you would mistake him for being unenthusiastic about the IPL or becoming a star bowler overnight.
But it is this humble nature that sets him apart from the others of his age group.
He might just have bowled in one game for the Hyderabad franchise, but he has already placed himself as their prime bowler—someone on whom David Warner and co. would rest their hopes to do well.
If the first game was anything to go by, coupled with the way he has bowled since his debut, he is sure to be the best signing of this year’s IPL—and if David Warner uses him better, it might just clinch the SunRisers the IPL 9 trophy.
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