Mustafizur responding well in training sessions: Courtney Walsh

Bangladesh’s bowling coach, Courtney Walsh, recently had a one on one session with premier young pace Mustafizur Rahman. Mustafizur was an instant hit ever since he made his international debut a couple of seasons ago. He was being tipped as the next big thing in world cricket. He responded well to all the hype that was built around him. Not only did he succeed in the national colors, but also was instrumental for his IPL franchise in the 2016 edition of the tournament.

However, it was perhaps an overdose of the game that saw him getting injured soon after. He made his comeback to the sport but could not replicate the success that he had initially got. This certainly emerged out to be a worrying concern for the Bangladesh cricket. Now, with tough assignments up next, they hope that Mustafizur Rahman will be back at his best soon.

Courtney Walsh, in all optimism, has given a green signal to the fans on Fizz’s current state. As per the quotes in Cricbuzz, Walsh conceded that he is working on helping Mustafizur bowl close to the stumps. He also conceded that Mustafizur is responding well in the practice sessions.

“It is too early to say anything apart from the fact that he is responding very well in the training sessions. We are trying to make him bowl (from) close to the wicket but that is not the only thing as we are trying some other stuff as well,” said Courtney Walsh.

Taking help from Jaki

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has allowed Mahbub Al Jaki to be a part of the training sessions of Mustafizur. Jaki, a coach in the BCB Game Development wing, was the one who had spotted Mustafizur at a very young age. He also spoke on the same lines that Courtney Walsh cited. He conceded that Fizz’s strength lies in the fact that he bowls well from closer to the stump. They are trying to work on this aspect again.

“We are trying to make him bowl from close to the wicket as that was his major forte. We are trying to make him understand what his major strength is and looking forward to develop that. It is true that after the comeback he has bowled a lot away from the stumps and there can be several reasons behind it, but as he could not achieve much success we made him realize that he needs to go back to his old bowling formula,” quoted Mahbub Al Jaki.

“At present, we are making him bowl in just three to four steps close to the wicket so that it gets seated into his subconscious mind so that later when he comes to bowl in full force he is able to bowl close to the wicket without making much effort,” he added further.