‘Fizz becoming too predictable’

Bangladesh ace paceman Mustafizur Rahman has been struggling with the ball in recent series and his death bowling skills not is not as potent as it used to be when he stormed onto the scene back in 2015. National selector Habibul Bashar was of the opinion that Fizz is becoming predictable.
During the second match of the BPL’s opening day fixture between Cumilla Warriors and Rangpur Rangers, Fizz conceded just 12 in his first three overs for Rangpur. When Dasun Shanaka raised a storm in the last three overs of the innings, Fizz was blown away, taken for 26 in his final over. Bashar noted that the yorker was missing from his armoury and thus he suffered.
“Mustafizur has been missing for a year and does not have that yorker. He used to have a great yorker. The slower ball is still there and his pace is increasing, but the yorker is missing. He is becoming too predictable. That’s my concern since batsmen are reading him and know what he might try,” Bashar said.
“He has to think,” Bashar reflected. “It is high time he starts thinking of backup plans when batsmen read him.”
Shanaka hit four consecutive sixes off Mustafizur in that fateful 19th over. “If you see his last two overs, he was predictable as he bowled the same length. It was bound to happen as it’s a T20. Mustafizur wasn’t trying anything different.”
For the national selector, wickets weren’t the problem, it was the release of pressure in tight situations that was concerning for the left-arm pacer.
“He is getting wickets. In the last year he is Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker but he is becoming too expensive. He is our death-overs bowler and if he is expensive, it’s a concern for the whole team,” Bashar, who is a mentor for Rangpur Rangers, said.
Bashar believed that performing again is a positive aspect but more consistency is needed. “Yorkers are missing. I talked to a Zimbabwe batsman and asked him to bat against Fizz. The understanding was that the majority will be cutters but Fizz bowled a yorker at 140kmph. Whoever used to stand in front of him, he could bowl fast yorkers but that is not there anymore,” Bashar concluded.