Youngster Mustafizur Rahman became the first bowler in history to take 11 wickets in the first two ODIs when he bagged six wickets yesterday, guiding Bangladesh to a convincing six-wicket win and a historic series victory over India following the second game of the three-match series at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
The 19-year old started from where he had left off in the first ODI last Thursday when he had taken a five-wicket haul in his maiden appearance in 50-over cricket. And yesterday, the Satkhira bettered his performance to not only inspire the Tigers to their first series win over India but also guide them to a berth in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
The Indian batsmen had no clue whatsoever to the youngster’s well-disguised slower deliveries, off-cutters and out-swinging deliveries as they suffered their first ever series defeat against the Tigers.
However, when it comes to interacting with the media, Mustafizur is the total opposite. His attitude might be aggressive on the field but off it, he seems to be an extremely soft-spoken person, someone who is really shy. He even had to consult with ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza after every question.
The only thing which the seamer repeatedly said was, “I am happy and looking forward to playing better in the future.”
Mashrafe on the other hand informed that they did not expect such a comprehensive result before the series got underway and said this win is one of the biggest achievements of Bangladesh cricket.
“This was one of our biggest achievements. Actually, I think the boys are really confident. Maybe we did not expect that we would win in this way. But, we always had the belief that we would always play for a win and fight till the last ball. Obviously, I know that if we play our best cricket, it will be competitive, but we can win as well. I will say a lot of luck was involved,” Mashrafe told the media in the post-match press conference.
However, the 31-year old believes that there are still many areas which the Tigers can improve upon but at the same time the “Narail Express” did not forget to give credit to head coach Chandika Hathurusingha as the Sri Lankan helped the Tigers to play fearless cricket.
“The coach had many inputs. Today (yesterday) for instance, we did not have a big target to chase, but the intent shown by the boys were great,” he said.