Twenty-year-old left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who burst on to the scene over the last year, has become the first ever player from Bangladesh to make it to the ICC ODI Team of the Year for 2015.
Mustafizur’s reward is indicative of Bangladesh’s progress over the last 18 months where the Tigers won back-to-back ODI series against South Africa, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe. The International Cricket Council released their ODI and Test team of 2015 yesterday afternoon, 30 minutes before Mustafiz took the field for Dhaka Dynamites in the Bangladesh Premier League.
“My team manager first gave me the news,” Mustafiz said before adding, “I was on the field at that moment, every one was congratulating me. I felt really good after hearing the news, because I am the first from my country.”
Mustafizur’s ODI career kicked off with a match-winning 5/50 against India in the three-match series in June. The left-arm pacer from Satkhira tormented the Indians further as he took 6/43 in the following match to become the first bowler in history to take 11 wickets in first two career matches.
During the qualification period which ran from September 18, 2014 to September 13, 2015, Mustafizur had bagged 18 wickets from six matches and although there were other quick bowlers who played more matches and took more wickets, the Bangladeshi said, “I am among the big players in the world. I always think of doing well. Whether its before or after, I always want to do something good for the country.”
The achievement however, did not over-excite the youngster from Satkhira as he said, “The achievement is different and the match is different.”
Mustafizur completes a four-member pace attack in the ICC ODI team comprising Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami and Mitchell Starc. South African AB de Villiers was named captain of the team while Englishman Alastair Cook was named the captain of the Test team. The ICC Test and ODI teams were chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC’s cricket committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble. The panel included past greats of the world game including former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop and ex-England batsman Mark Butcher. Mustafizur played nine ODIs till date and has taken 26 wickets at an average of 12.34. In 2009, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, the only Bangladeshi, was named in the 2009 ICC Test Team of the Year.
However, the good news was not enough to win the match for Dhaka as they went down by 10 runs against Comilla Victorians, led by none other than Mustafizur’s national skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza. Asked about the differences in captaincy between the two legends – his Dhaka skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Bangladesh captain Mashrafe – he simply said, “I have nothing to say, they both are boss.”
However, given his nature and calibre, it isn’t hard to tell that the soft-spoken Mustafizur has grown close to Sangakkara, who retired from international cricket in August. Queried about their relationship, Mustafiz said, “He (Sangakkara) first saw me in the nets and since then, he always takes me to his side, and says good things.”
ICC one-day international Team of the Year
AB de Villiers (South Africa, capt), T Dilshan (Sri Lanka), H Amla (South Africa), K Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), S Smith (Australia), R Taylor (New Zealand), T Boult (New Zealand), M Shami (India), M Starc (Australia), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Imran Tahir (South Africa); 12th man: J Root.
Source: Dhaka Tribune