“What A Bowler! The Wonder Boy Mustafiz wins it for Bangladesh” -these used to be the headlines ever since Mustafiz came to the scene..

By dint of His Performance, Bangladesh had beaten the likes of India and South Africa in a bilateral series for the first time ever.

The Cutter Master had a dream start to his career taking 13 wickets of the Indian batting line up which catapulted him to stardom.

In his first IPL season, the skinny left-arm bowler became the Emerging Player Of The Year of the year 2016 as he played the key role in Sunrisers’ maiden title. He is still the only non-Indian to win the award.

He bamboozled the best of batters with his cutters and variations and rocked the imposing batting line ups.

Although his form dipped owing to an injury, he is the go-to bowler for Bangladesh for more than last half a decade.

On this day, he has been one of the most impactful white ball pacer among the active players.

However, the emergence of Shoriful Islam gives us good hopes for the future. He is someone who can bowl at 140+ Kph. His variations in deliveries have outdone a lot of great batters. His aggression is second to none among Bangladeshi bowlers. His character makes him such a unique bowler for the Red and Greens.

Though he have just stepped into the international cricket, his consistency and regular wicket taking delivery are something that has already been proved vital for the team.

His agility and proclivity for working hard makes him an asset for the future which promises to burgeon into something big in future. It’s about time when he overtakes his idol Mustafiz’s role as the go to bowler.

Shoriful picked up 25 wickets from 19 ODIs and 13 T20I wickets in 10 matches that he had played so far.

On the other hand, Taskin’s hard work has started paying the dividend to him and the team too in the recent times. As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Similar to that whenever the team needs a break through Taskin is there to help.

His speed, immaculate line and length ripped through the South African batting line up in their own backyard that helped Bangladesh seal an ODI series victory against the full fledged Protea squad. The 26-year old finished with eight wickets in three games. This included a five-for in the series decider as he became only the third visiting fast bowler to be named Player of an ODI series on South African soil.

He showed his fast bowling magic earlier in New Zealand series on Kiwi-land while also against Afghanistan at the home series.

When I come into bowling at any time in the innings, I ask the captain, ‘Bhai what does the situation demand?’ I try to bowl according to that situation. I try to bowl fast and aggressive, to take wickets. I stick to the process. I won’t get wickets if I bowl ulta palta (here and there). I have to stick to a good line and length, and bowl to my strength which is to bowl fast. So far it has been, by Allah’s Grace

 

– Taskin Ahmed

The more the trio of Mustafiz-Taskin-Shoriful grows as a unit, the more happier the tiger fans could be. Mustafiz’s fearless death bowling, Taskin’s consummate line and length, Shariful’s aggression make Bangladesh’s pace bowling a complete package and now the team is not only reliant upon the spin attack but also the pace bowling attack, as it has formed a lethal combination that can demolish even the toughest opponents in home or away.