Cricket fans had made pilgrimages to the village in remote Satkhira distract where Bangladesh’s new cricketing superstar Mustafizur Rahman was born, said his father Abul Kashem.
Also, there has been a deluge of fan mail, including from female admirers who want his mobile number, Kashem said in an interview carried out by Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
‘I’ve been to the post office and told them not to not to deliver these letters to our home,’ said Kashem. ‘He is still too young and needs to concentrate on improving his game.’
Kashem is now the proud owner of a glistening new car that his son personally delivered on a trip back to Tetulia early last month.
Pace bowler Mustafiz has been a revelation since he burst onto the international stage with Bangladesh just a year ago — and now he is taking the Indian Premier League by storm.
Baby-faced heart-throb Mustafiz is adjusting to his jetset lifestyle as he flies from city to city in cricket’s glitziest tournament — a far cry from four years ago when he had to cling to the back of his brother’s rickety moped over 40 kilometres of potholed roads just to go to practise in the nearest nets.
The 20-year-old has been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s standout bowler in this year’s IPL with his eight scalps coming at an average of 21.25, including big wickets of AB de Villiers, Shane Watson and Virat Kohli.
The left-arm paceman also had the best strike rate at the recent World Twenty20, while his five for 22 against New Zealand was the best single performance by any bowler in the competition.
An unknown 12 months ago, Mustafiz is now one of cricket’s hottest properties after a stunning start to his international career which has earned him big-money contracts in the IPL and in England.
According to figures compiled by Cricinfo, Mustafiz has the best average of any bowler in Twenty20 cricket in the past 12 months and his economy rate is second only to the West Indian Sunil Narine.
Mustafiz, whose trademark delivery is a fizzing off-cutter, first caught the eye of Indian observers last June when he took five for 50 in his one-day international debut as Bangladesh thrashed their giant neighbours in Dhaka.
Bangladeshi players have been routinely patronised by Indian fans but Rahman has already earned their respect.
Speaking to AFP, Mustafiz said he was proud to get the chance to fly the flag for Bangladesh whether in the IPL or on the international scene.
‘I always wish for my country to stand tall, not only in cricket but any sport,’ he said.
He also swells with pride when he thinks of the joy he has brought to his home village of Tetulia, a sleepy backwater in southwestern Bangladesh where the main source of employment is shrimp farming.
‘It feels very good. People, my friends come up to me and say: ‘We’re going to watch you play today’ or ‘Oh, we saw you play!’ — it feels really great to hear such things,’ he said in a phone interview.
-With New Age input
