Mashrafe, Afridi go gaga over debutant Mustafizur Rahman

Pacer Mustafizur Rahman bowled superbly on his debut in the T20 International between Bangladesh and Pakistan on Friday and both the captains had some special words for him.

Mustafiz returned 2 for 20 in 4 overs that helped the Tigers to their first T20I win over Pakistan by seven wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
 
The 19-year old bowled with variations to make life difficult for the Pakistan batsmen from the outset.
 
“He bowled brilliantly on his debut. The more support pacers get, the better they do,” Mashrafe said at the post-match press conference.
 
“And the more they bowl well, the higher our chances of winning a match,” he said.
 
He said he would not have been surprised if Mustafiz was adjudged Man-of-the-Match.
 
Mustafiz conceded only five runs in his first two overs.
 
After giving Ahmed Shehzad a hard time, going past the edge several times, Mustafiz sent Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi back for his first international wicket.
 
Mashrafe had it planned.
 
“It can be guessed that a match changes if Afridi bats for 10 overs. But the way Mustafiz bowled was extraordinary.
 
“It was our strategy that we would bring in Mustafiz when Afridi would bat.”
 
“Our plan was successful. We knew he (Afridi) would try to hit. But Mustafiz bowled the delivery well. We are lucky that we got Afridi quite easily.”
 
The Pakistan captain lauded Mustafiz too.
 
“In my opinion, the start wasn’t good. They bowled really well, especially the new left arm bowler, I don’t remember his name,” said Afridi.
 
“He bowled very maturely with many variations. I think he did very well.”