Mustafizur Rahman was closely monitored by Steve Rhodes during his tenure as Bangladesh coach. Now he has the opportunity to take a closer look at this left-arm pacer again as a consultant for Comilla Victorians.
English coach Rhodes was in charge of the Bangladesh team till the 2019 World Cup. But the BCB did not keep him as he did not perform as expected in the World Cup.
However, according to statistics, he is one of the most successful coaches in the history of Bangladesh cricket. Under him, Bangladesh won the first and so far only multinational tournament title by defeating West Indies on Irish soil.
He also sees some differences between the two periods. The English coach thinks that many new things have been added to Mustafiz's bowling now.
Mustafiz has been working for a long time to add diversity to his bowling. In particular, Courtney Walsh has been working to bring the ball in for right-handed batters since he was the bowling coach of the Bangladesh team. Rhodes was the head coach then.
At that time Mustafiz did not get much of that delivery. However, his delivery improved after Otis Gibson took over as bowling coach.
After Comilla's two wins in two matches, Rhodes said Mustafiz's bowling now looks better-off to him.
"We all know what Fiz can do. But when I was here, I can see the difference in him now. He is a better bowler now because he has improved a bit for ODI cricket” said Rhodes.
Mustafiz recently took a place in the ICC's Twenty20 and ODI XI of the year. In 2021, he took 28 wickets at an average of 17.39 in 20 matches in T20 and 18 wickets at an average of 21.55 in 10 ODIs.
