Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman is a left-arm fast bowler representing Bangladesh internationally and playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He shot to fame as a teenager who could add variety to the bowling attack.

Popularly regarded as ‘The Fizz,’ the 28-year-old Bangladeshi pacer has earned the credit of being a reliable and experienced campaigner who has gotten the varieties of bowling the usual seam-up deliveries, off-cutters which take the pace of the ball to make it difficult for the batters to play and the capacity with which he bowls the cutters using his wrists is awe-inspiring.

Mustafizur Rahman: Along the Years

Mustafizur Rahman Records

• Second-best figures by a Bangladeshi bowler on ODI debut (5/50) after Taskin Ahmed

• Only cricketer to have won a ‘Player of The Match’ award on debut in ODIs and Tests

• Second bowler to take 5+ wickets in the first two matches of his ODI career after Brian Vitori (ZIM)

• Third-most consecutive five-wicket hauls in ODIs (2)

• Most wickets by a debutant bowler in a bilateral series (13 wickets against India in 2015)

• First Bangladeshi cricketer to feature in ICC ODI Team of the Year twice (2015 and 2016)

• Second Bangladeshi cricketer to feature in any ICC Team of the Year after Shakib Al Hasan  

• First and only overseas player to win the ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ award in IPL (2016)

• First Bangladeshi player to win ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award (2016)

• Fastest Bangladeshi bowler to take 50 ODI wickets (27 matches) and 100 ODI wickets (54 matches)

• Seventh fastest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets (54 matches) after Sandeep Lamichhane (NEP), Rashid Khan (AFG), Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK), Mitchell Starc (AUS), Saqlain Mushtaq (PAK) and Shane Bond (NZ)

• Second Bangladeshi bowler to take a five-wicket haul in ICC Cricket World Cups after Shakib Al Hasan

• Highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in a single Cricket World Cup (20 wickets)

• Fourth-highest wicket-taker in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 (20 wickets) after Mitchell Starc (AUS), Lockie Ferguson (NZ) and Jofra Archer (ENG)

• Fastest Bangladeshi to take 50 T20I wickets and 100 T20I wickets

• Second Bangladeshi bowler to take 100 T20I wickets after Shakib Al Hasan

• Sixth bowler to take 100 T20I wickets after Tim Southee (NZ), Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Rashid Khan (AFG), Ish Sodhi (NZ), and Lasith Malinga (SL)

• Fastest Bangladeshi bowler to take 150 ODI wickets (91 matches)

• Fourth Bangladeshi bowler to take 150 ODI wickets after Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, and Shakib Al Hasan

• Most five-wicket hauls in CWC history by a Bangladeshi bowler (2)

• Joint-third-most five-wicket hauls in CWC history after Mohammed Shami (IND), Mitchell Starc (AUS), Gary Gilmour (AUS), Vasbert Drakes (WI), Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK), Ashantha de Mel (SL)

• First Bangladeshi bowler to take a four-wicket haul in the Indian Premier League (4/29)

• Second Bangladeshi bowler to take 300 T20 wickets after Shakib Al Hasan

• Third-most maidens in T20Is among full-member nations after Jasprit Bumrah (IND) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (IND)

• Fifth-most wickets in T20Is (127) after Tim Southee (NZ), Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Rashid Khan (AFG) and Ish Sodhi (NZ)

• Second-most wickets in a single ground in T20Is (43 wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka) after Shakib Al Hasan (BAN)

• Third Bangladeshi to take 300 wickets across all formats after Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza 

• First Bangladeshi bowler to take a six-wicket haul in T20Is

• Sixth bowler to take a six-wicket haul in T20Is among full-member nations after Ajantha Mendis (SL), Yuzvendra Chahal (IND), Deepak Chahar (IND), Ashton Agar (AUS), and Obed McCoy (WI)

• Third-best figures in T20Is among full-member nations (6/10) after Deepak Chahar (IND) and Ajantha Mendis (SL)

• Joint-most five-wicket hauls for Bangladesh in T20Is (2) along with Shakib Al Hasan

• Joint fourth-most five-wicket hauls in T20s alongside Rashid Khan (AFG) and Imran Tahir (SA) after Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (IND) and Lasith Malinga (SL)

Mustafizur Rahman Awards and Accolades

• Featured in ICC ODI Team of the Year 2015

• Won the Best Athlete of the Year Award from the Bangladesh Sports Press Association in 2015

• Won the Emerging Player of the Year Award in IPL 2016

• Won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Award 2016

• Named as the 12th man in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 Team of the Tournament

• Won the ESPNcricinfo Award for best T20 performance of the year in 2016 for his five-wicket haul against New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016

• Featured in ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018

• Featured in ICC ODI Team of the Year 2021

Mustafizur Rahman Career

Mustafizur Rahman has been a dependable bowler who provides breakthroughs with his unplayable slow cutters, particularly in white-ball cricket. However, Rahman’s short career has already been affected by quite a few injuries. He has picked up side strains and shoulder injuries that forced him to miss several matches.

Mustafizur Rahman Domestic Career

Mustafizur Rahman started his domestic career by representing Khulna Division and Abahani Limited. He finished his maiden first-class season with 26 wickets at an average of 19.08. He was also admitted to the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s pace bowling foundation after scouts discovered his talent.

The Bangladeshi bowler started practicing cricket at a place that was 40 kilometers away from his home. He started as a batsman but switched to pace bowling after taking inspiration from Mohammad Amir. In March 2016, Rahman also signed for Sussex to play in the T20 Blast. He picked up four wickets in his first game but was ruled out of the remaining of the competition due to a shoulder injury.

Mustafizur Rahman IPL Career

At the age of 21, Mustafizur Rahman earned an Indian Premier League contract in the 2016 auction as Sunrisers Hyderabad purchased him for Rs. 1.4 crores.

The fast bowler exceeded expectations by picking up 17 wickets in 16 games and taking the team to the title. He was also named the “Emerging Player of the Tournament.” His toe-crushing yorker that bamboozled Andre Russell is still considered one of the balls of IPL history by the cricketing fraternity,

He joined the Mumbai Indians for INR 2.2 crores in IPL 2018 and took 7 wickets in 7 matches. Rahman took a brief hiatus from IPL and returned to play in 2021 when the Rajasthan Royals bought him for INR 1 crore. He had a good season with the ball, picking up 14 wickets in 14 matches at a decent economy of 8.41. The Bangladeshi was released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and was sold to the Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crores, but did not add much to his wickets column in the limited opportunities that he got.

The 28-year-old was snaffled up by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 auction for INR 2 crores and he justified his selection on CSK debut in the opener against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru when he became the first Bangladeshi bowler to pick a four-wicket haul in IPL history. The Fizz was the second-highest wicket-taker for CSK behind Tushar Deshpande, picking up 14 wickets in 9 innings. He had to fly back to Bangladesh to play in a T20I series against Zimbabwe as a preparatory measure for the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and the Men in Yellow had a setback in his absence as they failed to qualify for the playoffs only the third time in IPL.

Mustafizur Rahman International Career

Mustafizur Rahman has been a great asset with the ball for Bangladesh cricket and has rightfully notched up all the skillsets to go down as one of the legendary bowlers for the nation in the future.

Mustafizur Rahman ODI Career

Less than two months later after making his international debut in a T20I, Mustafizur Rahman made an impressive debut against India in the ODI series in 2015. He picked up 13 wickets in the series, which included two fifers, and set a record for the most wickets in a bilateral series by a debutant. In his maiden ODI against India, the fast-bowler was involved in an on-field collision with MS Dhoni. This cost him 50% of his match fees.

Rahman was making impressive strides in the ODI format as he became the first Bangladeshi bowler to feature in ICC’s ODI Team of The Year twice, in 2015 and 2016, and also won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Award in 2016. He was selected for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. He had a below-par tournament as he managed to pick a lone wicket in 4 games. 

In January 2018, he became the fastest Bangladeshi to pick 50 ODI wickets, surpassing former Bangladeshi spinner Abdur Razzak, when he picked up the wicket of veteran Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga in the final of the tri-series, involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. He achieved the feat in just 27 matches. In the Asia Cup 2018, he was instrumental in Bangladesh finishing as runners-up as he led their bowling attack by taking 10 wickets in 5 matches, the joint-most in the tournament alongside Rashid Khan and Kuldeep Yadav.

The Fizz was drafted into the squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to represent Bangladesh and he made the most of the opportunity as he had a good tournament with the ball, picking up 20 wickets and was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in that Cricket World Cup. He grabbed consecutive five-wicket hauls in the CWC, against Asian counterparts India and Pakistan but was on the receiving end on both occasions. 

Rahman achieved the feat of being the fastest Bangladeshi bowler to reach the landmark of 100 and 150 wickets. He played in the Asia Cup 2023 and also was selected to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, but could not get into his usual rhythm.

Mustafizur Rahman Test Career

Mustafizur Rahman made his Test debut against South Africa in Chattogram and picked a four-wicket haul in the first innings itself. He is the only cricketer to have won the Man of the Match awards on both ODI and Test debut.

Mustafizur Rahman T20I Career

The “Fizz,” as he is rightly called due to his variations, debuted against Pakistan in a T20 match on April 24, 2015. He bowled four overs at an impressive economy rate of just 5.00 and picked up two crucial wickets which saw the Tigers winning the game by seven wickets.

Rahman kept taking positive steps in his international career. He became an integral part of the team after just a few games as he kept piling wickets against South Africa and Zimbabwe, all of which ended on winning causes.

Rahman has also deceived the batters with the left-arm off-cutter that was bowled like a spinner but had the wings to reach the keeper on the full. His variations made him a difficult customer as the batsmen were finding it hard to pick his slower deliveries.

In the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 held in India, Mustafizur bamboozled the Black Caps with his variations by picking up a fifer for just 22 runs, his first in T20Is. He had to miss the Asia Cup T20 2016 in the middle of the tournament after suffering a side strain.

He became the fastest Bangladeshi to take 50 T20I wickets when he took the wicket of Kyle Jarvis in the Bangladesh T20 Tri-series involving Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in September 2019. Rahman was selected to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. He added 8 wickets in the 7 matches he played including a 4/36 against Oman. 

Rahman featured in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 held in Australia, but could not shine with the ball as he finished with only 3 wickets in 5 matches. He became the sixth bowler to achieve the landmark of 100 T20I wickets in his 84th T20I against England in Mirpur in March 2023. As a preparatory series ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Bangladesh toured the United States of America and though the Tigers were humbled, Rahman’s six-wicket haul was one of the shining lights ahead of the mega event and he would be looking to replicate the same form in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Mustafizur Rahman’s Family

Mustafizur Rahman was born on September 06, 1995, in Satkhira, Bangladesh to his father Abul Qasem Gazi, and his mother Mahmuda Khatun. He has an elder brother named Mokhlesur Rahman who was a guiding force in his building his cricketing career. He is married to his wife Samia Parvin.

Mustafizur Rahman’s Net Worth

As of 2024, Mustafizur Rahman’s estimated net worth is around INR 10.5 crores or USD 12.5 million.