DHAKA: Perhaps “Veni, Vici, Vidi” is the most appropriate expression for Mustafizur Rahman, the magic youngster from Bangladesh. A virtually unknown boy from a place adjacent to World Heritage, The Sundarbans - the abode of iconic Royal Bengal Tiger, rocked the cricket world in his very first appearance in world cricket when he shocked top ranked Indian team in ODI after a credible show in T20 against Pakistan.

His prolific form continued as he led Bangladesh in ODI series wins against India and South Africa. Then he teased and tormented almost all the teams in IPL 2016 when he became an integral part of the champions Hyderabad Sunrisers.

His injury put his English county team Sussex in a bit of bother. After long wait he appeared in the first T20 against Essex. Again he rocked English cricket taking 4/23 in his first match. BBC Cricket commentators lost words to describe what he said. All who saw him in action, all those played against him or in his team him were pleasantly surprised. He became instant idol of English crowd fans of both Essex and Sussex alike. His Captain Wright stated about efforts of Sussex in getting him there and how he proved his worth. His mates even could not work him out not to speak of the players playing against him.

Second match he appeared against strong Surrey in their home ground at Oval in London. His team Sussex batting first could not put up a competitive score to defend. He did not bowl all that but till the unfinished last over when the match was almost lost. He took a brilliant catch though.

Ask Jason Roy the prolific English limited over Batsmen about the amount of discomfort he had in handling fizz. But he was wicket less. No one ever must expect him getting loads of wicket in every match in every situation.

Fizz has just gone there. With every match he will learn and he will improve. He shows no reaction to anything. He has no emotions whether getting wicket or not. That is the hall mark of a great in the groom. His accuracy, his subtle change of pace and swings are phenomenal. New Zealand’s LP Taylor, his Sussex team mate, ranked him among the top of his kind. Ravi Bopara thought Fizz to be a very special player.

Bangladesh and Fizz featured very regularly in BCC Radio running commentary on July 22. We Bangladeshis wherever we are living are now a bit anxious after the recent incidents in the country. Bangladesh was in the headlines for wrong reasons. In such situation “Fizz” is making us feeling proud among sporting community of the world. His village is not very far from the abode of Royal Bengal tigers. We are sure even Bengal Tigers must be feeling secure there that someone very close to them is making Bangladesh bigger and brighter everyday. Bangla is spoken in Cricket as Sussex Webpage twitted in Bangla.

We are sure that success of Mustafiz will encourage other counties recruiting budding Bangladesh Cricket talents in more numbers in future. That will act as tonic to thousands of Bangladeshi teenagers playing cricket at every nook and corner of the country.

Players in the past and present get immensely benefited from playing in testing conditions in England. We hope that Non Resident Bangladeshis and Persons of Bangladesh Origin living in UK can act as linkages for getting more and more Bangladeshi quality talents playing club cricket or other formats for English counties. That can be a major way forward for Bangladesh cricket.

Mustafiz is third player from Bangladesh after Tamim and Shakib to play in County Cricket. But he has always become brand Ambassador for Bangladesh. More Bangladeshi players playing in England will assist Bangladesh in becoming more competitive in all formats of the game. Especially it will immensely help as Champions Trophy in 2017 and ICC World Cup in 2019 will be staged in England as sub-continental players always struggle to come to terms with English Condition.

BDST: 0954 HRS, JUL 23, 2016
SR