I'm not the one who loves to watch: Mustafiz

Mustafizur Rahman is a man of few words, or that is what everyone thought courtesy of the bowler's one-line replies during the press conferences. That myth though was torn into shreds  yesterday. From talking excitedly about the way his 'cutters' evolved to the immense love that the 19-year-old has for his family, from expressing his dream desire to bowl against Chris Gayle to speaking on the nervous moments he had during his international debut; within an hour, Bangladesh's left-arm pace bowling sensation seemed to transform from a shy teenager, to a person whom you would love to have an adda with. When this interview was initially organised at the lobby of the Sonargaon hotel it was assumed that it wouldn't exceed more than 10 to 15 minutes; however, once he animatedly started discussing the events that transformed his life in the last few months, the only thing that could stop him for the next one hour was a phone call from his teammate and friend Soumya Sarkar. The following is a transcript of the exclusive interview:

The Daily Star (TDS): You are famous for your cutters today, but that wasn't your strong point in the under 19 level, was it?

Mustafizur Rahman (MR): There was a time in the under 19s when I could bowl five yorkers in an over. It didn't matter whether you gave me the old ball or new, I could bowl yorkers from the first ball, that's not something everyone could do. Sometimes, [Sarwar] Imran sir used to get irritated and  tell me not to do that since that would spoil the ball. But I had made it a point to bowl yorkers to every new under 19 batsman that came to the crease. It's something I liked to do. But I guess he was right, he wanted me to swing the ball.

 TDS: How did you learn that craft?

MR: Back in my village I used to have my own corner next to my school's football ground where I practised regularly. In that corner, I used to mark spots in front of the stumps. Back there I couldn't get good cricket balls so I used to bowl with Indian balls, which used to cost around 500 to 600 takas. The good thing about those balls was that they didn't get spoilt. Even if they were scratched, you could press them and bring them back to shape again. I used to mark one spot for the good length delivery and one for the yorker. And I ensured that I bowled at least ten deliveries on each of those markers. And that has helped me. No matter how good a batsman is today, he will face trouble when someone bowls in the right areas unless he is extraordinary.

TDS: Did you learn to bowl the cutter on your own?

MR:  The story of the cutter dates back to when I used to bowl in the nets against Bangladesh's national players. Back then I was in the Under 19 team. But I never bowled too many cutters while playing for the Under 19 side. It was around two years back when West Indies had come to play here. I was bowling to [Anamul Haque] Bijoy bhai  and [Shamsur Rahman] Shuvo bhai in the nets. That's when Bijoy bhai asked me to bowl a cutter and showed me the grip. I took up the challenge instantly and got both Bijoy bhai and Shuvo bhai out twice each that day.

I think the cutter was more effective when I played in the National Cricket League [NCL]. I played around five matches in the NCL and got 21 wickets. Out of the 21 dismissals, I think 15 came off slower deliveries. Our pitches in domestic cricket aren't the kind where a pacer can run away with wickets. It's very difficult and you have to use your head a lot

TDS: So the cutter is something that's completely natural?

MR: Yes. Nobody ever taught me to bowl that delivery. The way I bowl the cutter is not the way everyone does it. My style doesn't change which is good. So I can bowl the cutter by holding the seam and also by not holding it, with both the new and old ball. All I need to do is just hold the ball. I can bowl two kinds of cutters. One is very fast and the other is a bit slow. I think against South Africa, I bowled cutters at both 135-136kph and at 128-129kph as well.

I could always bowl the faster cutter. The slower one was what I learned recently. I realised that I had problems bowling against left-handed batsmen. So during practice I experimented by bowling both the faster and slower cutters to Shakib [Al Hasan] bhai and Soumya and I  saw how they reacted to it. The two deliveries are bowled differently; one has a normal movement while with the other delivery, my hand turns around completely. I think I used the slower cutter for the first time against India in the second ODI. I had practiced that delivery in the two-day break after the first ODI against India and I managed to hurt the lefties the most with that.

TDS: What do your teammates say about the cutter?

MR: They just make fun of me at times. Supposing we have four pacers in the side, they will keep saying that the team has three pacers and one spinner, because I turn the ball. It's funny.

TDS: Which wicket have you enjoyed the most so far?

MR: Not wickets. I actually remember my first international match against Pakistan the most. It was a T20I and I was really nervous. I was so nervous that I couldn't come out of the dressing room to go do my warm-ups. I asked [Abul Hasan] Raju bhai to help me go out. Once I was on the field I thought I would bowl at the end. But Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] bhai surprised me by asking me as to which end I wanted to bowl from. I just told him that I will bowl from whichever end that he doesn't want and the next thing I know, he gave me the ball to open the innings. I was really scared at first when I heard the crowd shout. But all that fear disappeared after the first delivery when they all started cheering for me. I started enjoying the game from that moment and it just continued.

TDS: You seem to bowl without any pressure of getting hit. How does that happen?

MR: I generally don't get scared. In fact I like to bowl against batsmen who like to hit the ball. I like to bowl against good batsmen because you get to learn a lot from there and also create your own variations. I think bowlers can learn the most number of variations if they play in pressure-filled situations, like T20 games. The IPL, especially, is one great example. I watch the IPL sometimes, but generally I don't like to watch cricket. I prefer playing more.

During our national team's practice matches, I always like it when the good batsmen, like Sabbir Rahman or Bijoy bhai are on the other side so that I can bowl against them. I think that is also the reason why I have a dream of bowling against Chris Gayle. It doesn't matter to me if they can read me. If they can, then I will face that task on my own means.

TDS: How is life different after cricket?

MR: Everyone keeps telling me that I have become a star. I tell them that I am still the Mustafiz of the old. It just seems like that because I am not able to give them time. But I am like before. I think it's good not to change. I should be the same as I was before; I think that will be good. If I don't talk to someone who wants to talk to me, if he feels bad, that is something I won't like.

TDS: When did you first dream of playing international cricket?

MR: I think the first time I had that feeling was when I was playing for Khulna Under 16. Sheikh Salahuddin sir had a video on his laptop and it showed us how the national players were training in the academy and using the stadium's outdoor facilities. I saw Mashrafe bhai and Shakib bhai bowl in that video. That's where my dream began. I asked myself, when will I get there?

TDS: How has the dressing room experience been so far?

MR: When I first entered the dressing room I never sat on the sofa. There was a chair somewhere around and I used to go sit on that. And then they asked me why I was behaving like that? They asked me to sit on the sofa when it's empty.

There is an 'unlucky corner' in the dressing room where nobody sits and that's where I have decided to make my place. I don't know why that corner is called unlucky, the senior players termed it. Despite knowing that, I sit there along with Liton Das and Jubair [Hossain]. I told myself, okay, let's try to change the fate of this corner.

TDS: How has it been playing under Mashrafe Bin Mortaza?

MR: What can I say about bhai. He is a man of a different category. When the team is down and no one's interested, he gets everyone interested. When someone plays badly, he scolds them, but even that is taken in a fun way by the players. Bhai is different. The day he reached the 200-wicket mark, he told me that I will be able to get 400 wickets.

TDS: Were you surprised with your Test call-up?

MR: Yes. In fact, I had already booked my ticket for home, for Eid. I was showing it off to Soumya and taunting him because he was surely going to be in the Test side. At the end, we both were in the Test side.

During the Pakistan series, I was bowling in the nets and I bowled quite well on one particular day. That's when [Chandika] Hathurusingha saw me. He asked me if I was ready to play Test cricket. I told him that I needed some more time. I think although people don't like to see Test cricket in our country, it is still the best format to play.

TDS: Do you like adding techniques to your bowling?

MR: Against South Africa Heath Streak asked me if I can bowl a slower like Wayne Parnell did. He bowls it from the back of his hand. When I tried doing that I realised that it hurt my shoulder because my arm wouldn't turn at all. And even if it did, the ball wouldn't land on the right area. So I told him that it won't work for me. There is no end to learning, but I won't take up anything that I am not comfortable with. Overall what I can do right now is good. If I can bring in my natural swing, then it will be better.

 I don't want to bowl too fast either. I don't think this is too bad now. I know it will decrease at one point of time, I know that. But right now I think bowling at 135 Kph is good along with my variations.

TDS: Tell us a bit about your training techniques.

MR: Someone once told me that good practice depends upon your heart. Simply bowling for a long time won't make you a good bowler. Instead, bowling with a lot of effort even for a shorter period can give you better results. So it depends. If I bowl three overs and I feel satisfied then that's better than bowling ten, eleven overs at a go. It depends upon your confidence.

TDS: Do you analyse batsmen?

MR: I was given the video footage for the South Africa series in a hard disk and honestly speaking that's still in my bag. They show us footages during our meetings. That's what I follow mostly.