Mustafizur Rahman is a left-arm pace bowler from Bangladesh who plays for the Bangladesh National cricket team in International cricket. He also plays in the Indian Premier league IPL.
Mustafizur Rahman made domestic cricket debut in 2014 and International cricket debut on 18 June 2015 v India. He made International test debut 21 July 2015 v South Africa. He made T20I debut on 24 April 2015 v Pakistan.
In IPL he initially played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and is currently playing for Chennai super kings in IPL 2024.
Cricket Journey of Mustafizur Rahman
Mustafizur who came to Dhaka to try out for a fast-bowling camp in 2012, after he had impressed in an Under-17 tournament in Satkhira, some 300km from Dhaka. He got admitted to the BCB’s pace foundation and soon caught the coaches’ attention to make the Bangladesh Under-19 side for the 2014 World Cup.
He made his first-class debut for Khulna in the 2013-14 season and, after taking eight wickets in the U-19 World Cup in the UAE, he was surprisingly picked for Bangladesh A’s tour of West Indies. Returning from that short trip, he was viewed as a better bowler and slowly picked up more variations. He initially lacked pace but built it up through the 2014-15 first-class season, when he took 26 wickets at an average of 19.08.
This was when Mustafizur started to develop the left-armer’s offcutter, which was delivered as a spinner does but with the added ability of making it carry to the wicketkeeper standing back. The story of Anamul Haque’s dare that got him to bowl the delivery will go into Bangladeshi cricket folklore, as will the early support he received from Mashrafe Mortaza, who spotted him randomly in the Mirpur nets.
Soon enough, the Bangladesh selectors picked Mustafizur for the one-off T20I against Pakistan and then, midway through 2015, for the ODI series against India when he became only the second bowler after Brian Vitori to take five-wicket hauls in his first two ODIs, paving the way for Bangladesh’s first-ever ODI series win over India.
He was excellent in bilateral series against South Africa – which included a Test debut – and Zimbabwe, while also doing well in his first BPL campaign. Mustafizur’s first foray on to the world stage was through the IPL auction, when he was picked Sunrisers Hyderabad in early 2016, followed by confirmation of a contract with Sussex for English domestic limited-overs cricket. He ensured none of his new paymasters doubted their call as he emerged as one of the best bowlers in the World T20, signing off with a five-wicket haul against New Zealand, bamboozling them with his variation of cutters.
Mustafizur Rahman Biography
| Full name | Mustafizur Rahman |
| Nick Name | Fizz |
| Date of Birth/DOB/ age | Sep 06, 1995 (28 years) |
| Birth Place | Satkhira District, Bangladesh |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Virgo |
| Profession | Bangladeshi Cricketer (Medium Fast Bowler) |
| Country | India |
| Cricket Role | Bowler |
| Father name | Abul Qasem Gazi |
| Mother name | Mahmuda Khatun |
| Married | Married (22 March 2019) |
| Spouse or Girlfriend | Samia Parvin |
| Children | NA |
| Education Qualification | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Current Residence | |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Batting Style | Left Handed Bat |
| Bowling Style | Left-arm fast-medium |
| International Debut | Test– 21 July 2015 vs South Africa in Chittagong ODI– 18 June 2015 vs India in Dhaka T20– 24 April 2015 vs Pakistan in Dhaka |
| Teams | Bangladesh, Abahani Limited, Bangladesh Under-19s, Khulna Division, Lahore Qalandars, South Zone (Bangladesh), Sunrisers Hyderabad |
Mustafizur Rahman Physical Statistics
| Height | in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 8” |
| Weight | in Kilograms- 67 kg in Pounds- 148 lbs |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Hair Color | Black |
Mustafizur Rahman Profile
Mustafizur Rahman is a wily left-arm pacer that foxes batters with his ever growing arsenal of slower deliveries and cutters. Now a seasoned campaigner, it was a nineteen-year-old Mustafizur Rahman who grabbed attention during India’s tour of Bangladesh (June 2015) when he became the second bowler in ODI history after Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori to pick up two five-wicket hauls in his first two matches. In fact, he is the only bowler to take a total of 11 wickets in his first two games. In his 3rd ODI against India, he took 2 wickets and made history by taking 13 wickets in a 3-match ODI series.
Rahman, who has been playing cricket from a very young age, was first spotted by scouts from Satkhira and picked him up to play in the Under-17 tournaments before calling him up for pace bowling camps in Dhaka. His obvious talent did not take long to get noticed and before he knew it, he became a regular part of Bangladesh’s Under-19 squad. He represented Bangladesh in the Under-19 World Cup in 2014 and picked up 9 wickets in six matches. His first-class debut came in the 2013-14 season as well for Khulna and he started giving commendable performances, thus sealing his spot in the team. He finished the first-class season with 26 wickets at an average of 19.08.
Mustafizur made his international debut in a one-off T20 match against Pakistan and picked up two wickets, that of Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. He was handed the ODI cap in the series against India and instantly impressed with his accuracy and variations. Mustafizur made his Test debut against South Africa in July 2015. He picked up four wickets in his first match and became the first player to win ‘Man of the Match’ award on both Test as well as One Day International debuts.
Having befuddled the Indian batsmen with his varieties in the ODI series, Mustafizur Rahman, often called as ‘The Fizz’, was bagged by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1.4 crore. Soon, he signed a contract with Sussex for the T20 Blast competition. His first tourney outside home was the World T20 held in India in 2016. He missed the initial matches due to side strain, but that didn’t affect his performance later in the tournament. He returned home as Bangladesh’s best bowler picking 9 wickets in 3 games, which also featured a fifer (5-22) against New Zealand.
Following the WT20, Rahman showcased his brilliance with the ball in the lucrative Indian Premier League, where his team won the coveted trophy. Playing for the Sunrisers, he scalped 16 wickets in 17 matches, thereby being named ‘Emerging Player of the Tournament’.
A shoulder injury during his stint with Sussex kept him out of action for six months, which meant he had to miss the important home series against England. In December 2016, he was part of the Bangladesh team that toured New Zealand and played in the ODIs and T20Is. Though he was in the squad for the longest format, as he wasn’t 100% fit, the management decided to rest him. The selectors bravely omitted him for the one-off Test against India as he hadn’t fully recovered from the hamstring problem.
Having recovered fully from injuries, the Fizz played a key role in Bangladesh’s successful tour of Sri Lanka in 2017, where the tourists squared the Test, ODI and T20I series. Mustafizur joined the SRH camp late for the 2017 edition of IPL. His services were required for just one match in which he went wicketless and had to leave for Ireland for the tri-series featuring the hosts and New Zealand. Rahman was the best Bangladeshi bowler in the tri-series which also included a Man of the Match award against Ireland.
Mustafizur had a very silent campaign in the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. He returned just a solitary wicket from four games and wasn’t at his best even in the two-match Test series at home against Australia that followed although he did have a 4-fer in the second innings of the final Test. Like most of his Bangladeshi teammates, he also had a rather disappointing tour of South Africa. He featured only in the Tests and was ruled out of the ODIs due to an ankle injury. A fit and firing Mustafizur Rahman was mandatory for Bangladesh cricket, especially in the shorter forms.
A regular in the Bangladesh side by now, Mustafizur was named in Bangladesh’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup and he had an excellent campaign. He bagged his 100th ODI wicket in their game against Pakistan and went on to finish the tournament as his side’s leading wicket taker with 20 wickets from just 8 outings.
After a steady stint with the Sunrisers, Mustafizur found himself hopping around franchises in the coming years. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians in 2018 and picked up 7 wickets from as many games before going on to miss the following season due to injury. In 2020, he was denied an NOC by the Bangladesh Cricket Board who stated that he was required for national duty. He returned to the IPL in 2021 after being bought by the Rajasthan Royals and had another consistent season where he claimed 14 wickets from 14 games. He switched sides again in 2022 when he was acquired by the Delhi Capitals.
‘A remember the name’ moment happened for Mustafizur when he picked up 11 wickets in his first two ODIs to derail India. The Fizz as many call him since then has seen many ups and downs in his career. His international career has been plagued by all sorts of injuries.
Mustafizur Rahman Stats
Batting Career Summary
| M | Inn | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 200 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 15 | 22 | 7 | 66 | 16 | 4.4 | 162 | 40.74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| ODI | 103 | 51 | 30 | 160 | 20 | 7.62 | 309 | 51.78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| T20I | 85 | 24 | 9 | 68 | 15 | 4.53 | 89 | 76.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| IPL | 48 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 13.0 | 23 | 56.52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Bowling Career Summary
| M | Inn | B | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Econ | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 15 | 25 | 2145 | 1139 | 31 | 4/37 | 5/66 | 3.19 | 36.74 | 69.19 | 0 | 0 |
| ODI | 103 | 102 | 4949 | 4268 | 162 | 6/43 | 6/43 | 5.17 | 26.35 | 30.55 | 5 | 0 |
| T20I | 85 | 84 | 1816 | 2294 | 103 | 5/22 | 5/22 | 7.58 | 22.27 | 17.63 | 1 | 0 |
| IPL | 48 | 48 | 1092 | 1444 | 47 | 3/16 | 3/16 | 7.93 | 30.72 | 23.23 | 0 | 0 |
Mustafizur Rahman IPL Auction Price History
| Year | Price | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2.20 Cr | Mumbai |
| 2021 | 1 Cr | Rajasthan |
| 2022 | 2 Cr | Delhi |
| 2023 | 2 Cr | Delhi |
| 2024 | 2 Cr | Chennai |
Mustafizur Rahman’s Social Media Accounts
| Mustafizur Rahman (@mustafizur_90) | |
| Mustafizur Rahman (@Mustafiz90) | |
| Mustafizur Rahman | |
| Wikipedia | Mustafizur Rahman |
Some Lesser-Known Facts About Mustafizur Rahman
- Does Mustafizur Rahman smoke?: No
- Does Mustafizur Rahman drink alcohol?: Not Known
- Rahman started playing cricket as a batsman.
- In his early cricketing days, he used to travel 40 km to play competitive cricket.
- His father was more interested in making him a doctor.
- His brother Mokhlesur Rahman supported him a lot and used to take him to play matches.
- In a match against India, he twice tried to block the Indian Batsman (Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni) while they were taking a run.
- He considers Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir as his idol.
- Anamul Haque Bijoy helped him to bowl those lethal cutters.
- On 19 December 2023, Rahman was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs. 2 crore in the 2024 IPL auction, held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
