Who is Mustafizur Rahman?

Who is Mustafizur Rahman?

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The Bangladesh cricket team has a selection of strong batsmen, and one of them is Mushfiqur Rahim. Mushfiqur Rahim may not be the biggest name among batters in the cricket community, but he has proven to be a formidable player in his own right. The question is though, who exactly is Mushfiqur Rahim?

Here is some basic information on the player

Born on June 09, 1987, in Bogra, Bangladesh
Role: Wicketkeeper Batter
Fielding Position: Wicketkeeper
Batting Style: Right-hand bat

Rahim has been described as a versatile batter who can bat for any order and is known as “Mr. Dependable” to Bangladeshi fans. While Rahim is a consistent player, how did he develop into the skilled cricketer he is today?

Early Life and Career

When Mushfiqur was young, he studied history at the Jahangirnagar University in between playing cricket. In 2012, he sat his master’s degree examinations.

Rahim received his training at the Bangladesh Institute of Sports and had his start with the Bangladesh Under-19s. Between 2004 and 2006, he played in three Youth Tests and 18 Youth One Day Internationals (ODIs), with an average of 31.75 and 36.00, respectively, in the batting department.

Selected as a backup for Khaled Mashud on the tour of England in 2005, he quickly caught the eye of selectors with his impressive batting performances in the tour games. At just 16 years old, he was allowed to play as a specialist batsman in the first Test and went on to become the youngest player to ever play at Lord’s.

In February 2006, Sri Lanka hosted the U-19 Cricket World Cup, where Rahim led the Bangladesh side, featuring future international players such as Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, among others. Rahim was one of only two players in the tournament with Test-match experience. Thanks to his leadership, Bangladesh made it to the quarter-finals of the competition.

Domestic Career

In December 2010, Rahim achieved his personal best score in a one-day match, playing for Rajshahi in the National Cricket League. He scored 114 runs off 120 deliveries, but unfortunately, his team lost by 8 runs.

In 2012, the Bangladesh Cricket Board established the Bangladesh Premier League, a six-team twenty20 tournament to be held in February of that year. Mushfiq was appointed as the ‘icon player’ for Duronto Rajshahi by the BCB.

Despite a slow start, Rahim’s leadership helped Duronto Rajshahi to reach the semi-finals of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012, where they, unfortunately, lost to the Barisal Burners. Throughout the tournament, Rahim proved his worth as a player, contributing an impressive 234 runs across 11 matches.

Since 2013, he has played for multiple teams in the Bangladesh Premier League, starting with Sylhet Royals, where he became the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 440 runs in 13 matches, averaging 40.40. In 2016, he joined the Barisal Bulls and was again among the top scorers, with 341 runs in 12 matches and two half-centuries.

The following year, he played for the Chittagong Vikings and scored 426 runs in thirteen matches, becoming the team’s highest run-scorer. In 2019, he played for Khulna Tigers, and was the second-highest run-scorer, amassing 491 runs in 14 matches with an average of 70.14 and four half-centuries.

He also scored his career-best unbeaten knock of 98 runs against Cumilla Warriors during the 40th match of the tournament.

In 2022, he was picked for the Sylhet Strikers. Then on January 10, 2023, he became the first cricketer in the Bangladesh Premier League to play 100 matches during the 10th match against Dhaka Dominators.

International Career

Back in 2005, Mushfiqur Rahim was selected to represent Bangladesh for their first-ever tour of England. It was a challenging series for the team as they had to deal with unfamiliar conditions and tough opposition bowlers. But Mushfiqur was not one to back down easily.

In the warm-up matches, he focused on adapting his batting style, playing late and straight, which proved to be a winning strategy. He impressed everyone with his skills and scored an impressive 63 against Sussex and an unbeaten 115 against Northamptonshire. Wisden, the cricket bible, even took notice of his performance!

The following year, Rahim joined Bangladesh’s squad to tour Zimbabwe. He was one of three new ODI players on the team along with Farhad Reza and Shakib Al Hasan. In the Harare match against Zimbabwe, he scored his first half-century, which helped him become the first-choice wicket-keeper for the World Cup in the West Indies.

After some impressive performances, Rahim replaced Khaled Mashud in the second Test against Sri Lanka in July 2007. Though Bangladesh lost the match, Rahim’s 191-run partnership with Mohammad Ashraful broke a team record.

In December 2007, the Bangladesh Cricket Board granted him a one-year grade B contract. However, following a string of low scores, he was dropped from the team in favor of Dhiman Ghosh for the next few series.

Rahim made his comeback in the tri-series with Pakistan and India and the 2008 Asia Cup. He also received one of the 17 renewed contracts in April 2009, making him the first-choice keeper for Bangladesh.

Achievements

When it comes to records and achievements in his career, Rahim made more than a few. He holds the record for the highest individual score for Bangladesh in Test cricket and is the only wicketkeeper-batsman to score two double-hundreds in Test history

Not only that, but he is also the first Bangladeshi player to have scored three double-hundreds in Tests. In March 2023, during the second ODI against Ireland, Rahim broke yet another record by scoring the fastest century by a Bangladeshi player in an ODI, with the least number of balls faced.

Moreover, he also became the third cricketer from Bangladesh to surpass 7,000 runs in ODIs.

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