Mustafizur Rahman Destroys Indian Batting, Does an Encore of Fifers
Mustafizur Rahaman may well have become Team India's No. 1 bowling adversary. The Bangladesh pacer claimed his second fifer in only his second international match to leave Men in Blue stunned.
He had a dream ODI debut when he claimed five wickets against India as Bangladesh won the second ODI for historic series win over theon Thursday. On Sunday, Mustafizur Rahaman came out for his 2nd ODI and walked away with another fifer, leaving a highly-acclaimed Indian batting line-up looking rather tattered. Left-arm pacer destroyed the Indian batting order once again to help Bangladesh seal the three-match ODI series with a thumping six-wicket win in Mirpur. (Dhoni Offers to Quit ODI Captaincy)
After opting to bat, India's start suffered a massive blow when Mustafizur struck off the second delivery of the match, sending back opener Rohit Sharma. While the batsman was guilty of playing a loose shot - slicing a length ball to point, the 19-year-old pacer deserved credit for taking over from where had left off in the previous match. (Blog | Match Report | As it Happened | Scorecard)
Even as the following Indian batsmen attempted to repair the innings, Bangladesh kept the pressure up. While the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (53) and Virat Kohli (23) fell to off-spinner Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur claimed the biggest prize of the day when he dislodged a well-set Suresh Raina for 34 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for 47. Young Axar Patel could hardly last and was trapped LBW off the first delivery he faced.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the next man in with Indian tail woefully exposed. While he did manage to deny Mustafizur a hat-trick, the bowler got his way eventually to complete a memorable fifer. Interestingly, he became only the second ODI debutant - after Zimbabwe's Brian Vitori - to claim a fifer in his first two matches.