Mustafizur Rahman: Bangladesh’s very bright light

World T20 2016, 28th Match: Bangladesh v New Zealand at Kolkata, March 26, 2016

It is fair to say that Bangladesh’s World T20 campaign has been a slight disappointment. The Netherlands came within nine runs of knocking them out before they could even play a Test nation. In the Super 10 stages, they failed to come away with a win from four matches, losing two matches by margins of greater than fifty runs against Pakistan and New Zealand. Their loss to India by one run will go down as one of the most spectacular chokes in World T20 history: even South Africa is unlikely to ever see WWW on their scorecard in a situation where two runs are needed off three balls.

However, they will leave India with the knowledge that Mustafizur Rahman is indeed one of the most exciting prospects in world cricket. While there are certainly young quick bowlers who seem capable of more destructive exploits – Kagiso Rabada from South Africa comes to mind – Mustafizur is the one player most capable of long-term success.

Australian Test tour to Bangladesh 2015/16 (preview)

[Update: As of 2 October 2015, the tour has been officially postponed by Australia due to security concerns. I will probably write a post about this incident or the general relationship between cricket and terrorism.]

In 2010, Geoffrey Boycott, the outspoken Yorkshire commentator who makes Ian Chappell seem shy, proclaimed that the Test status of Bangladesh should be revoked. In June this year, he seemed to have softened his approach, stating they are “not quite minnows now”, but cited their lack of success away as a key indicator of their lack of progress. While Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh will not allow them an opportunity to experience away success, a strong, competitive performance from Bangladesh will demonstrate their burgeoning ability. Moreover, provided Australian concerns over security are assuaged, this tour represents one of Bangladesh’s best chances for a historic win against Australia, given that the current Australian squad is considerably depleted of experience.