Assistant coach Nic Pothas who supervised Bangladesh team in absence of head coach Chandika Hathurusingha was over the moon after watching Mustafizur Rahman to get back to his best with the new ball, an area in which he always had the deficiency.
Mustafizur with the old ball is a gem but with the new ball, his credential was drastically waned since his cutter became predictable. In the first ODI against New Zealand, which was washed out due to relentless rain, Mustafizur demonstrated a performance that gave Bangladesh an option with new ball in the World Cup.
Pothas credited Mustafizur’s hard work to hone his skill with the new ball. “It is very exciting. Fizz (Mustafizur) has been working hard for the last month or so, to try to find some rhythm with the new ball,” Pothas said here today.
“He has worked hard with Allan Donald. You can see the fruits, and it is coming along at the right time before the World Cup. We are very happy for him.”
Mustafizur claimed 3-27 in seven overs and grabbed two wickets with the new ball, which forced New Zealand slump to 16-2. Indeed he was almost unplayable in his first spell, making New Zealand batter life hell.
With his deadly death bowling skill, which he just some days ago showed against India in Bangladesh’s narrow six-run victory in Asia Cup, the new found confidence with the new ball surely a sweet problem for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh in fact started forming their pace bowling attack sans Mustafizur Rahman these days, largely due to his ineptitude with the new ball.
“We know his death bowling credentials. You can wake him up at 3 o’clock in the morning to bowl death overs, and he will do them with the best in the world,” Pothas said about his death bowling skill.
The wicket also favoured Mustafizur skill. But what raised the question how Bangladesh will be beneficial to play such sort of slow wicket when they have to play in a sporting wicket in World Cup.
Pothas said the curator has nothing to do in this case as the consistent rain in Bangladesh over the last three wickets made it tough to prepare a better wicket.
“We can’t rate the pitch, but put everything into context. It has been raining for three weeks. That pitch had two hours under the sun, maximum.
What do we expect? It is a living breathing organism. Gamini (curator) can’t produce miracles. I thought he did well with the time he had,” Pothas opined. Pothas was also all praise for left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed who took 2-21 to complement Mustafizur’s effort.
“Nasum is a quality white-ball bowler. We have seen that in the Asia Cup and here. He adapted very well with the conditions. He read the wicket well. He got the pace and line right. He is gaining in confidence and experience in every single game. He learns very quickly. We are very happy with him,” he concluded.
