Bashar feels "expensive" Mustafizur needs to rethink about his bowling.
Bangladesh national team selector Habibul Bashar on Thursday, December 12, said Mustafizur Rahman has become too predictable for the opponents, saying his weapon slower yorker and cutter have become such predictable that the batsmen now aren't fazed by it anymore.
Following his ordinary shown in recent times, Bashar, former Bangladesh skipper, suggested the left-armer to come up with different things and new ideas for getting his old rhythm back to confuse the opponent and give a tough time to the batsmen.
His comment came after Cumilla Warriors skipper Danus Shanaka incredibly dominated Mustafizur in the death, hitting him for four sixes in an over to take the BBL game away from Rangpur Rangers.
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Also, the 24-year-old has been facing a tough time at the international stage, taking only nine wickets in 33.4 overs while conceding 315 runs at an economy rate of 9.35.
Bashar told reporters in Dhaka, “It is a concern because we are missing the Mustafizur (we know) for the past one year. There is no yorker in Mustafizur's bowling while he had wonderful yorkers before. Slower deliveries are still there while his pace is also increasing.”
He continued, “Now he is bowling at a good pace. (But) The yorker is missing. He is becoming predictable. This is my concern. Batsmen are able to predict what he is going to do.”
Bashar also believes that it was high time for Mustafizur to rethink about his bowling to chart out a comeback plan, adding: “I think he needs to rethink about his bowling. It's high time for him to go for plan B since for batsmen he is now easy to read.”
Former cricketer further explained, “A cricketer should think how he can do well when he becomes predictable to the batsmen. If we look at yesterday's match, he bowled really well in the first two overs but in the last two overs, he was completely predictable. In T20, Shanaka is a very good batsman but Mustafizur didn't try anything different. He was bowling in the same length and conceded six after six to Shanaka.”
While saying his wicket-taking ability won't while leaking runs in such manner isn’t a good sign for him and national team as well, he said the bowler now has to prove again that he is a special bowler.
Bashar further explained, “He still is getting wickets and even claimed five wickets in some matches. He is Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in the last one year but he was expensive, especially in the death overs. He is considered a special bowler for Bangladesh. If he continues leaking runs in such a manner, it creates pressure on others.”
He signed off by saying, “From what we have seen, his tendency to leak runs puts adverse impact on the team, even though he took wickets. In the end, performance matters. Like other people, I also believe he is a special bowler but he now would have to prove it again.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)