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Bangladesh Cricket: Mustafizur Rahman England Stint In Doubt, Bowling Sensation Complains Of Fatigue, Report Says

Published on: May 12, 2016 at 10:55 PM
By Jonathan Vankin

Mustafizur Rahman, the 20-year-old Bangladesh bowler who has exploded onto the cricket world thanks to his spectacular stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad of the Indian Premier League over the past month, is scheduled to take his dazzling array of cutters and yorkers to England next month where he has agreed to join County Cricket side Sussex.

But the next stop on Mustafizur’s tour may now be in jepoardy, as according to a report on ESPN Cricinfo , the young superstar has recently complained to friends of fatigue, after bowling 11 matches, for a total of 41 overs, in the last 30 days since debuting in the IPL.

Before joining Sunrisers for the current IPL campaign, “The Fizz” bowled for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup, and immediately prior to that tournament, the Asia Cup — though he missed several matches in both of those tournaments with a side strain.

Mustafizur Rahman was also supposed to have joined the Lahore Qalanders of the new Pakistan Super League T20 franchise competition in February, but he ended up sitting out the entire PSL with a shoulder injury.

But since joining the IPL, he has become the talk of the tournament, taking 13 wickets in his 11 matches , with an economy rate of 6.53. His wicket total ranks him second in the IPL behind teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and West Indies international Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders, who each have 14.

Mustafizur’s economy rate is good for sixth overall in the 2016 IPL.

Watch highlights of Mustafizur Rahman in a spectacular spell against Mumbai Indians, from their match on May 8, in the video below.

But in his most recent match, with Sunrisers taking on Dehli Daredevils on Thursday, Mustafizur showed signs of slowing down , posting his worst performance of the IPL, allowing 39 runs in four overs without taking a wicket — with 26 of those runs scored by India Under-19 player Rishabh Pant.

“Mustafizur has spoken to those close to him of his tiredness from playing continuously in the IPL,” according to a report by ESPN Cricinfo correspondent Mohammad Isam this week.

His current stint is the most intense and busiest stretch in the young career of Mustafizur Rahman, since he made his international debut in a T20 International match against Pakistan on April 24, 2015. “The Fizz” took two wickets and allowed just 20 runs in his four overs in that game.

Mustafizur played 10 matches for the Dhaka Dynamites of the Bangladesh Premier League last November and December, taking 14 wickets in 37.3 overs, with an economy of just 5.70.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board had reached an “agreement in principle” with the Sussex club for Mustafizur — who speaks very little English — to travel to England and take part in the NatWest T20 blast, the English domestic T20 competition, as well as the Royal London One Day Cup.

Despite the reports that Mustafizur is now considering backing out of the agreement with Sussex, the coach of that English County Cricket side says that he still expects the pace bowling prodigy to join the team after the conclusion of his obligations to the Hyderabad IPL franchise.

“We can’t confirm anything at the moment but I am confident he will be joining us,” Davis said this week. “He is probably the best bowler in the world at the moment so we’re very excited about him coming and we should know for sure what’s going on in the next couple of weeks.”

With Sunrisers remaining atop the IPL table despite the loss to Dehli on Thursday, with just three games remaining, the Hyderabad team appears a shoo-in to advance to the IPL playoffs, which could keep Mustafizur busy until May 29, the date of the 2016 IPL Final.

EARLIER BANGLADESH CRICKET COVERAGE FROM THE INQUISITR:

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has said that whether he joins the Sussex club is purely the young star’s own decision to make, but assuming Sunrisers make the IPL playoffs, Mustafizur Rahman likely would not make his debut on an English pitch until June 1 at the earliest, when Sussex plays a T20 Blast match against Somerset.

[Featured Photo By A.M. Ahad/Associated Press]

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