Mustafizur weaves his magic in Chelmsford, just like old times

Mustafizur Rahman has been far from his best for a long time now and with the influx of a lot of fast bowlers, he is not a guaranteed starter anymore. He was dropped from the team in Bangladesh's last two home ODIs against Ireland and sat out in the first two ODIs against the same opposition in Chelmsford as well with Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain and Shoriful Islam getting the nod ahead of him.

The left-arm seamer got a chance in the final ODI game because Bangladesh opted for four fast bowlers. Back in the side, Mustafizur showed he still has the ability to win Bangladesh matches.

He was disciplined in the first spell with the new ball, constantly taking the ball away from the right-handers with the angle. His persistence paid off as Stephen Doheny nicked one to Litton Das at slip to become his first victim. 

But four of Ireland's top five got runs and they were cruising really and for the most part, it was their game to lose before a gamble to have part-timer Najmul Hossain Shanto bowl his off-breaks worked for Bangladesh. 

Although Shanto got Harry Tector out, there was a lot of batting left for Ireland. But Mustafizur did what he was known for in his early days. 

For a change, he operated round the wicket to the right handers and for the little bit of slowness of the used pitch, the cutters were gripping on the surface and going away from the right handers. He got George Dockrell out in that manner as the right-hander hit that straight to catching cover. Before that, he got Curtis Campher out.

Mustafizur had struggled to nail yorkers in the past but he was spot on tonight. His fourth wicket came courtesy of a yorker and it sent Ireland's last recognised batter Lorcan Tucker back in the hut. He finished with figures of 10-1-44-4.

It was the 10th time in 86 innings that he got a four-wicket haul. In the post-match presentation, Mustafizur revealed that he visualised a five-wicket haul the day before the match.

It was Mustafizur's first Player of the Match award in ODIs since May 2019. On being asked if he had the belief to win Bangladesh the game, he said, "Yeah, I have been doing that for a long time."

Five years ago, Mustafizur defended 10 in the last over against Afghanistan in an Asia Cup game. The captain bowled him out before the final over and so young Hasan Mahmud was entrusted with the job of defending nine. The fact that Hasan did the job with complete conviction indicates that Bangladesh have found someone who can do Mustafizur's job at the back end. He will probably be in a three-way race for the spot of a third seamer in Bangladesh's best XI in the World Cup.

In the 2019 World Cup, only Mitchell Starc and Lockie Ferguson took more wickets than Mustafizur. He was also Bangladesh's best bowler when India last hosted an ICC event. This spell against Ireland could well be the one Mustafizur needed to get things back on track before the showpiece event.