Bangladesh wonder-kid Mustafizur Rahman continued to impress in international cricket as he ended up taking four wickets on debut on the opening day of the first of two Test matches against South Africa at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.
In the process, he became only the third Bangladesh bowler after ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza and national discard Ziaur Rahman to pick up that many wickets on Test debut.
Read More: Mustafiz glows bright in spotlight
More than the wickets itself, the way the 19-year old grabbed his scalps attracted all the attention. And even though he was quiet for the majority of the first day’s play, he created all the difference between the two sides when he came on to bowl the 60th over. His impact was felt so hard that the visitors lost three wickets in four balls of that eventful over.
Yesterday was the third time in his 10 international outings so far did Mustafiz appear at the post-day press conference and if the first two appearances were any indication, he was expected to be shy. However, Test heroics are a bit more special than anything else so it was only normal when he answered every question with a broad smile.
“It feels good when you get wickets in such a manner but it is never fun to field for one-and-a-half or two days. I was happy for the [four] wickets,” Mustafiz told the media when asked to describe his feelings on the achievement.
Watch: Wonder boy Mustafizur picks 3 wickets in 4 balls
Yesterday, Mustafiz missed out on a hat-trick for the third time recently but he informed that he was not disheartened. Rather, he was prizing his four-wicket haul, especially the ones of wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock and South African captain Hashim Amla.
“I like it when I see wickets flying and a pacer is supposed to feel good about it. So yeah, I had enjoyed that dismissal (De Kock). But if you ask me, the biggest wicket from the four was Amla’s,” he said.
A medium-pacer by trade, Mustafiz has shown remarkable improvements in recent times, most notably increasing his pace. Among the 17.4 overs that he bowled yesterday, the left-armer touched the 141kmph-mark on several occasions.
When queried to give the reasons behind his increase in speed, the soft-spoken Satkhira lad said, “I think I had bowled at 141 once [yesterday]. I have worked hard and regularly in the gym and there has also been some good training with the coaches. I have also worked hard while training in the High-Performance camp.”
