We have seen many mystery spinners in cricket. Bowlers like Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine of the West Indies and even Pakistani Saeed Ajmal have given batsmen enough headaches to last a lifetime.
Mystery is generally associated with spinners, as they generally tend to have more time at their disposal to use their fingers and wrists to deceive the batsmen.
Seamers very rarely have an aura of mystery around them. Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga was one of those bowlers, using his ultra-slingy action to make life difficult for the batters. Even Pakistani quick Sohail Tanvir was difficult to negotiate because he bowled off the wrong foot, making it tricky for batsmen to gauge the pace of deliveries.
However, Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman falls in a completely different category. He is a proper mystery bowler. They simply cannot pick him, be it T20s, ODIs or, as it turns out, Tests.
He made his international debut against Pakistan in April in a T20, and he has been just unstoppable. In six one-dayers, he has scalped 18 wickets at a stupendous average of 12.61 and an economy of 4.25. In three T20s, he has as many wickets at an economy of seven. And on his Test debut against a full strength South African side, he took four top-class middle order wickets to peg back the No1 Test team.
– T20I: Yasir Shah recalled to Pakistan squad
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His first full series was against India and he broke the back of their batting with a five-wicket haul on debut followed by a six-for that sealed a series win. Thereafter, his five wickets from three games played a crucial role in clinching a famous series win against the Proteas.
What makes Rahman unique is that he bowls from wide of the crease and his wrist position makes it a nightmare to differentiate between his stock delivery, which is bowled at around 130kmph, and his slower deliveries that are bowled with a similar action.
Mustafizur Rahman is the perfect foil to batsmen who like to hit through the line through the covers…that’s 90% of the batting world.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 21, 2015
First the Indians and now the South Africans are finding it tough to even play defensively as every now and then a slower one comes along that catches the edge of their bat and lobs up to cover or a quicker one comes in and traps them leg before or bowled, as happened to JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock at the Chittagong Test.
And did I mention he is just 19? He has so many variations up his sleeve, one feels the sky is the limit for him. He reminds me of Sri Lankan left-armer Chaminda Vaas who succeeded while bowling tirelessly on flat sub continent wickets.
With a renowned former fast bowler in Heath Streak as the team coach, Rahman is in great hands. However, it’s important that the team takes care of him, doesn’t overburden him and most importantly, doesn’t expect too much from him because as has happened with every mystery bowler in cricket, they all get decoded. What Rahman does when that day arrives is what will make or break his career.
