Mustafizur's Indian coach explains why his student's slower ball is so lethal

Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja have all fallen prey to 19-year-old Mustafizur Rahman — the star of Bangladesh’s first ever ODI series win against India.

While Mustafizur’s line, length and movement off the pitch are commendable — it’s his slower delivery that has troubled the Indians most.

“What makes his slower one more lethal is the fact that he bowls both the faster and the slower one with the same length. He is very very accurate in bowling his slower delivery, which is very important in sub-continental conditions,” his former coach Ranadeb Bose told NDTV .

Bose, who played 91 first-class matches for Bengal, spent a couple of years in Bangladesh coaching their pacers at the National Cricket Academy — and the former Bengal player admitted that his first assessment of Mustafizur has been proven wrong.

Bose described Mustafizur as a ’thin boy from a small village’ and didn’t think he was ready to play even for the Under 19s.

“The first thing that came to mind was that he is malnourished, probably because he came from a humble background. I thought he wasn’t even strong enough to play in the Bangladesh under-19 team,” he said.

However, he was impressed with how Mustafizur implemented all his advice in the nets — and is now pleased to see his former ward perform so well.

Mustafizur has taken 11 wickets in the ODI series so far — India play Bangladesh in the third and final match on 24 June.

Click here to read the full NDTV report.