Mustafiz gears up for challenge to make duke ball talking

GBNews24 Desk//

Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman is upbeat to make the duke ball talking in the upcoming Test series against West Indies despite his zero experience to bowl with his special kind of ball.

While Kukabura or SG ball is being used in ODI and Test cricket in Bangladesh and in other countries, England and West Indies are the only two teams which use duke ball in Test cricket at their home, BSS reports.

To make the matter worse, Mustafizur Rahman had never played Test matches in those two countries. In fact the pacer, popularly dubbed as Cutter Master doesn’t play Test cricket more often. He was included in the side for this Test series after Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam missed out due to their respective injury problems.

But Mustafizur is unfazed by the challenge the duke ball is posing, according to Bangladesh fast bowling coach Alan Donald who is currently teaching the pacer the art of using this ball.

Donald is the right person to do this if his success rate in West Indies and England is taken into consideration. Dubbed as ‘White Lightening’ for his immense pace, Donald took 20 wickets at an average of 24.95 in 5 Tests on West Indies soil. He had also claimed 45 wickets in 8 Tests in England.

Mustafizur currently is working separately with the Bangladesh bowling coach with the duke ball in the net.

In a video message sent by the BCB, the bowling coach said, “There is only one session with Fizz. He bowled for the first time after IPL. I gave him some idea about the ball. With duke ball this is his first experience. I have made very subtle changes in his grip. It looks he is okay with it.”

The basic difference between duke ball and Kukabura ball is seam. Duke ball seams are steeper and last longer which is not in the case of kukabura. Also the seam of the SG ball is slightly higher than the Kukabura. It also does not last long. Donald said it would take time to adjust with duke ball.

“It’s Mustafizur’s time to turn to duke ball from kukabura. I am very well acquainted with that ball. I have played plenty of county cricket for Warwickshire and Test matches in England. The seam of this ball is quite high. There is a lot of work to be done to adapt to this, as we have seen before,” Donald remarked.

Mustafizur last played a Test against the West Indies in February last year. Thereafter he though continued playing ODI and T20 cricket, he showed his reluctance for Test cricket time and again.