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"Mustafizur Rahman has got the skill set, X-factor Wasim Akram had" : Dale Steyn

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Fearsome South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has joined the Mustafizur Rahman fan club, paying the Bangladeshi left-arm paceman perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to left-handed pace bowlers. Although Mustafizur's latest outing on April 26 against Rising Pune Supergiants saw a rare blip as he was taken for 21 runs from his two overs, he should be buoyed by arguably the greatest fast bowler of this generation comparing him to one of the greatest that ever played the game: Pakistan swing king Wasim Akram.

"Mustafizur has got the skill set, X-factor Wasim Akram had. I wouldn't say Mustafizur is swinging as much as Akram did but it is fantastic to see him bowl." Steyn said in an exclusive interview on India Today's website on April 27, 2016. Steyn is playing for the Gujarat Lions in the 2016 Indian Premier League, the competition where Mustafizur has most recently come into the spotlight by taking wickets and mesmerising opposition batsmen for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Mustafizur has taken the cricketing world by storm since his international debut in the T20I against Pakistan in April last year. Since then, he has taken 52 wickets in 24 international matches and his three five-wicket hauls in ODIs have been instrumental in Bangladesh’s rousing series wins over India and South Africa in 2015. But his supreme control and nearly indecipherable changes of pace that, as much as his brilliant international statistics, have made him an irresistible prospect for Twenty20 cricket. It was therefore no surprise that he became only the sixth Bangladeshi to be picked by an IPL side.

The 20-year-old, nicknamed the Fizz, has already provided some of the most exciting moments of the IPL this year. His in-swinging yorker that cleaned up Andre Russell was a spectacle. And on Saturday, he bowled 16 dot balls in his four-over spell and finished with figures of 4-1-9-2.

"Every year somebody comes up, somebody steps up. At the World Cup, last year, we had Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc who came out and did something different. They both were bowling yorkers and swinging the white ball extremely well. While Starc was hitting 100 mph-mark, Boult was swinging it upfront. Now we have got Mustafizur from Bangladesh. I hope he goes from strength to strength. I hope we have a few more guys like Mustafizur next season," Steyn said.

"We are so used to right arm bowlers who bowl quick and also bowl off-cutters to surprise batsmen. Now this guy is a left-armer and his cutters and pace changes are things that nobody has seen before."

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/sports/cricket/fizz-has-the-skill-wasim-had-steyn-1215382
 
He's absolutely correct. Fizz is the only fast bowler who can become as good as wasim or McGrath in Odis. Currently there isn't a single bowler who can be compared with fizz. He's in a totally different league.
 
pretty surprising comments coming from a dude who started his international career couple of years after Wasim retired.
 
Clearly Steyn wants a BPL contract

He himself is a legendary bowler and widely considered as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of test cricket. :shakib:

It's really sad to see that u r talking crap about him just because he praised fizzy.
 
He's absolutely correct. Fizz is the only fast bowler who can become as good as wasim or McGrath in Odis. Currently there isn't a single bowler who can be compared with fizz. He's in a totally different league.

Starc is much better, try again.
 
[MENTION=139394]Prince_[/MENTION] have you forgotten how Hardik Pandya destroyed "the Pizz" in Asia cup ?Must be a crap bowler to be hit by such a hack :msd
 
so did I but I personally don't think that's enough to determine the skills set he had.

But you're not the number bowler in the world. You don't have any skill set with ball and you can't admire someone like Steyn could. A bowler like Steyn could be totally amused by certain things which Wasim could do and he still cannot.
 
He's absolutely correct. Fizz is the only fast bowler who can become as good as wasim or McGrath in Odis. Currently there isn't a single bowler who can be compared with fizz. He's in a totally different league.

In the current form he is far ahead than Wasim+Mcgrath combined.
If he plays according to potential he will get

1000 wickets in ODI
500 Wickets in test due to less test play by Bangladesh
300 wickets in T20
 
[MENTION=139394]Prince_[/MENTION] have you forgotten how Hardik Pandya destroyed "the Pizz" in Asia cup ?Must be a crap bowler to be hit by such a hack :msd

Have you forgotten how Fizzzz owned whole India team thrice in a row i guess, must be a crap team to be owned by such bowler :)))
 
This will not go down well with Pak fans.

Why not, this is a big compliement for the youngster. He seems to be a very hard working and humble guy. Wish him all the best. From a pakistani fan.
 
[MENTION=139394]Prince_[/MENTION] have you forgotten how Hardik Pandya destroyed "the Pizz" in Asia cup ?Must be a crap bowler to be hit by such a hack :msd

That's quite natural brother. Once, Federer the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen was also knocked out of a grand slam tournament by an unseated player. :yk


BTW, I m not trying to disrespect Pandya here. He has the potential of becoming a good all-rounder for India.
 
Wow, one will have to believe when it comes from Steyn. We all need to reassess this guy. Seems there is some spark in him!
 
He's absolutely correct. Fizz is the only fast bowler who can become as good as wasim or McGrath in Odis. Currently there isn't a single bowler who can be compared with fizz. He's in a totally different league.

I understand that you will never rate Amir because he is Pakistani, however, Starc is easily a better LOI bowler than "The Fizz".

Please refrain from such over the top statements.
 
Probably correct, but still to early to say. Besides people always quote players as if somehow whatever they say is gospel truth. No, its just that players fallible opinion.
 
Very special praisal from a very special pacer. Mustafiz is a special talent. To my openion Mustafiz is better than what Wasim was at 20 years of age. But what wasim became later as a bowler (a true magician with the ball which no bowler of his generation could do), the question is can Mustafiz raise his standard to that level with time? Its a very difficult job as Wasim has raised the bar at such a high level. But i am hopeful. BCB should handle him with care and should not let him play too much cricket in IPL, big cash and county. I am very much worried about it.
 
What nonsense. Don't see what the hype is. Trundler who can change pace and bowl some cutters. We not seen that before have we.....

Saw him for the first time in last game and he got a lesson from Steve smith. He was bowling in the 120s!!

Soon he will be worked out and join the forgotten list. Remember Irfan Pathan.

Forget Wasim, I rate Bhumra and Nehra more than this dude.
 
Have you forgotten how Fizzzz owned whole India team thrice in a row i guess, must be a crap team to be owned by such bowler :)))
India lost 2 matches.By the 3rd match Indian bowlers were Playing him comfortably.He has a novelty factor of bowling well disguised fast cutters a art that was forgotten for more than a decade.His novelty wore off and since then he has played 4 matches versus India and lost all.
 
India lost 2 matches.By the 3rd match Indian bowlers were Playing him comfortably.He has a novelty factor of bowling well disguised fast cutters a art that was forgotten for more than a decade.His novelty wore off and since then he has played 4 matches versus India and lost all.

Just don't see what's special about this guy. The more he plays, the quicker the end for him.

In test cricket, he won't be a serious threat at his pace. Batsman are not obliged to go after the bowling as they are in t20s.
 
But you're not the number bowler in the world. You don't have any skill set with ball and you can't admire someone like Steyn could. A bowler like Steyn could be totally amused by certain things which Wasim could do and he still cannot.

translate because that did not make sense to me at all...btw the fizz doesn't swing the ball at ALL nor is he express, so not sure where the comparison is coming from.
 
India lost 2 matches.By the 3rd match Indian bowlers were Playing him comfortably.He has a novelty factor of bowling well disguised fast cutters a art that was forgotten for more than a decade.His novelty wore off and since then he has played 4 matches versus India and lost all.

He played 2 matches against India after that ODI series and went for 8-0-72-2. BD fans are thrilled that Jadeja is his bunny and that's all there was.
 
Steyn was obviously trying to give the new fella some confidence as he is his teammate. Nice gesture from steyn. I am sure he would have said the same for ami if they were in the same team.
 
Steyn was obviously trying to give the new fella some confidence as he is his teammate. Nice gesture from steyn. I am sure he would have said the same for ami if they were in the same team.

I don't think they're teammates.
 
He played 2 matches against India after that ODI series and went for 8-0-72-2. BD fans are thrilled that Jadeja is his bunny and that's all there was.

I think he went for some paintaa too against Pakistan.
 
I am double minded, not quite sure, will see if he can maintain an economy rate of under 7 till the end of IPL, will pass a verdict then regarding his T20I future.
 
translate because that did not make sense to me at all...btw the fizz doesn't swing the ball at ALL nor is he express, so not sure where the comparison is coming from.

LOL who told u that. He can touch 145 km and that's more than enough for a bowler like him.

What's wrong with the comparison. Wasim himself wasn't a great conventional swing bowler. He was successfull because he was one of the best exponents of reverse swing.


Similarly fizz is the best of the best when it comes to bowl the slower deliveries. He also has the ability to bowl deadly yorkers like wasim akram.
 
But you're not the number bowler in the world. You don't have any skill set with ball and you can't admire someone like Steyn could. A bowler like Steyn could be totally amused by certain things which Wasim could do and he still cannot.

Lol was about to write this.
 
LOL who told u that. He can touch 145 km and that's more than enough for a bowler like him.

What's wrong with the comparison. Wasim himself wasn't a great conventional swing bowler. He was successfull because he was one of the best exponents of reverse swing.


Similarly fizz is the best of the best when it comes to bowl the slower deliveries. He also has the ability to bowl deadly yorkers like wasim akram.

touching 145 doesn't make you express...doing it consistently does...last game i saw he was bowling in mid 120s (IPL) after getting tonked by Smith and LOL to say Wasim wasn't great conventional swing bowler. When were you born kid?
 
India lost 2 matches.By the 3rd match Indian bowlers were Playing him comfortably.He has a novelty factor of bowling well disguised fast cutters a art that was forgotten for more than a decade.His novelty wore off and since then he has played 4 matches versus India and lost all.
Its not all about novelty factor ,Rohit and Pandya smashed him in Asia cup but he got their wicket in very next meetings .Kholi and Jadeja too was not comfortable in IPL matches against him after playing several times.

Sent from my Symphony W65i using Tapatalk
 
I understand that you will never rate Amir because he is Pakistani, however, Starc is easily a better LOI bowler than "The Fizz".

Please refrain from such over the top statements.

Starc is a fantastic bowler. I'll agree with you here. But that doesn't mean that he's better than fizz. At best he's on par with fizz.

But it's true that both of them are head and shoulders above rest of the bowlers who are currently playing odi cricket. :yk
 
Pakistanis underrate Mustafiz while Bangladeshis overrate him. He is one of if not the best LO bowlers in the world but you need to wait a few years. Same with Amir. Compare them after 5 years.
 
Its not all about novelty factor ,Rohit and Pandya smashed him in Asia cup but he got their wicket in very next meetings .Kholi and Jadeja too was not comfortable in IPL matches against him after playing several times.

Sent from my Symphony W65i using Tapatalk

Mustafizur went for 34 runs in 4 overs in that so called next meeting.
 
Starc is a fantastic bowler. I'll agree with you here. But that doesn't mean that he's better than fizz. At best he's on par with fizz.

But it's true that both of them are head and shoulders above rest of the bowlers who are currently playing odi cricket. :yk

Your opinion doesn't hold any weight :)
 
touching 145 doesn't make you express...doing it consistently does...last game i saw he was bowling in mid 120s (IPL) after getting tonked by Smith and LOL to say Wasim wasn't great conventional swing bowler. When were you born kid?

U r getting agitated Bro. But ya I understand ur feeling. Sometimes truth can be quite difficult to digest.

Ask any expert, they will say that wasim was 2 or 3 times more dangerous with the older ball than he was with the newer one. :wasim:


Yesterday fizz was bowling in mid 120s :))). Ya, I believe u. Lol. Those were his slower deliveries. :yk
 
India lost 2 matches.By the 3rd match Indian bowlers were Playing him comfortably.He has a novelty factor of bowling well disguised fast cutters a art that was forgotten for more than a decade.His novelty wore off and since then he has played 4 matches versus India and lost all.

Spoken like a true ignoramus. As has been mentioned before, there is no novelty factor to get "used to". The off cutter is not a new delivery never seen before.

He bowls 4-5 variations with no discernible change in action. People watching on slow motion replays can't tell what he is bowling until he's bowled it. Batsman in real time will struggle even more. Its not just about the movement either, some balls bounce even on dead subcontinent tracks. No idea how he does it.

Think about it. Swing bowlers are tough to play even though there is no novelty factor and batsmen can easily see the shine of the ball. Mustafiz's cutters don't even rely on that information. Batsman can only guess as there is nothing to read.

Kohli, scored just 8 off 9 against him in the recent IPL match, well under his career strike rate of 130. Was troubled by him as well, despite having faced Mustafiz 5 times across formats:

2.4
Mustafizur Rahman to Kohli, no run, too straight in line, Kohli flicks and does not make contact. He is rapped on the pads
2.5
Mustafizur Rahman to Kohli, no run, The Fizz unfurls the offcutter, 123ks, Kohli is duped by it. He targets the leg side again and misses. And the Fizz can generate extra bounce as well with his cutters

If its as simple as you say to just read Mustafiz, perhaps you should give some free lessons to Kohli.
 
I think he went for some paintaa too against Pakistan.

Nope. He made his international debut against Pakistan and had Ahmed Shehzad dancing in the crease. Hasn't played Pakistan since then so no question of getting smashed and he won't get smashed by Pakistan any time soon either. Bangladesh didn't even need him to beat Pakistan 3 - 0 in the ODI series and then again in the Asia Cup. Can't see the Pakistani batsmen reading him at all.
 
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Nope. He made his international debut against Pakistan and had Ahmed Shehzad dancing in the crease. Hasn't played Pakistan since then so no question of getting smashed and he won't get smashed by Pakistan any time soon either. Bangladesh didn't even need him to beat Pakistan 3 - 0 in the ODI series and then in the Asia Cup.

But you sure needed him when we smashed 200 off you in the latest meeting :)
 
Everyone on pp knows that only aamir and Wasim are to be mentioned in the same sentence. People who claim otherwise are just ignorant.
 
Did Starc really bowl a ball at 100mph? Think it's the first time I've heard of that
 
Nope. He made his international debut against Pakistan and had Ahmed Shehzad dancing in the crease. Hasn't played Pakistan since then so no question of getting smashed and he won't get smashed by Pakistan any time soon either. Bangladesh didn't even need him to beat Pakistan 3 - 0 in the ODI series and then again in the Asia Cup. Can't see the Pakistani batsmen reading him at all.

How many matches did he help his team win in WT20? Home track bully did his usual stuff in Home country.
 
Lol yea in Bangladesh.

LOL. He was one of the best bowlers in the last t20 world Cup.

2/30, 2/34 and 5/22, these were his bowling figures in his last three t20 internationals against Australia, India and NZ respectively.
 
LOL. He was one of the best bowlers in the last t20 world Cup.

2/30, 2/34 and 5/22, these were his bowling figures in his last three t20 internationals against Australia, India and NZ respectively.

No Pakistani bowler managed to take even half the number of wickets as Mustafiz despite playing one match more in the WT20 and this guy has the audacity to talk nonsense about Fizz's performance.
 
He didn't even get to play against Pakistan. Missed out on another 5-fer.
 
He didn't even get to play against Pakistan. Missed out on another 5-fer.

Exactly. I can't remember correctly. Who was the top scorer in that match? Was it shehzad or afridi :))) If he had played in that match he would have tormented their top order.
 
So what? Tendulkar hardly won anything during 90s. Does that mean the number of centuries he scored during that time were worthless?

India won a lot of matches for India, please educate yourself first. Tebdulkar was the reason why India reached semis. They didn't win zero matches in any tournament like Bangladesh.
 
Matches he won for his team = zero

So all of a sudden cricket is an individual sport and the onus is on the bowlers to win matches for their team with their four over quotas.

So if a bowler's quality is determined by the number of matches won by their team the following bowlers are better than Mohammad Amir: Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ben Stokes, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan, David Willley, Andre Russell, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott and I'm sure I'm missing a few more.

Amir has won his team only 27% of matches since his comeback. Unfortunately with that stat he can only be compared with bowlers from Zimbabwe and Ireland.
 
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India won a lot of matches for India, please educate yourself first. Tebdulkar was the reason why India reached semis. They didn't win zero matches in any tournament like Bangladesh.

Tendulkar*
 
So all of a sudden cricket is an individual sport and the onus is on the bowlers to win matches for their team with their four over quotas.

So if a bowler's quality is determined by the number of matches won by their team the following bowlers are better than Mohammad Amir: Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ben Stokes, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan, David Willley, Andre Russell, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott and I'm sure I'm missing a few more.

Amir has won his team only 27% of matches since his comeback. Unfortunately with that stat he can only be compared with bowlers from Zimbabwe and Ireland.
It was you who brought this winning point into discussion now because it doesn't suit you, you ran away? Now you're bringing Aamir in, which again is irrelevant to your discussion. But to let you know he hasn't performed well since his comeback. Mustafiz performed well only against Australia. He was poor in rest of the matches. Was whacked easily by Pandya for sixes.
 
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It was you who brought this winning point into discussion now because it doesn't suit you, you ran away? Now you're bringing Aamir in, which again is irrelevant to your discussion. But to let you know he hasn't performed well since his comeback. Mustafiz performed well only against Australia. He was poor in rest of the matches. Was whacked easily by Pandya for sixes.

This post clearly indicates that u haven't watched a single Match in the last t20 world Cup and now u aren't even reading the posts properly.


If u did that u would have known that he demolished the top class New Zealand batting lineup with his scintillating bowling performance.
 
So what? Tendulkar hardly won anything during 90s. Does that mean the number of centuries he scored during that time were worthless?

India won a lot of matches for India, please educate yourself first. Tebdulkar was the reason why India reached semis. They didn't win zero matches in any tournament like Bangladesh.

I think folks mix the test format and ODI format here. Indians actually won more than they lost in 90s when SRT played. 109 won vs 104 lost. Around 45-50% of matches won by India had SRT crossing 50+. He got 20 tons in win in 90s in the ODI format.

In the test format, most of his tons didn't result in wins. In odi, only 4 tons didn't result in wins. Two different situations due to format here.

--------

I think, Steyn and many others would like to encourage young bowlers when they see potential. You don't have to take all comments literally, but Steny is not talking without any basis. He has performed very well so far.
 
It was you who brought this winning point into discussion now because it doesn't suit you, you ran away? Now you're bringing Aamir in, which again is irrelevant to your discussion. But to let you know he hasn't performed well since his comeback. Mustafiz performed well only against Australia. He was poor in rest of the matches. Was whacked easily by Pandya for sixes.

This post clearly indicates that u haven't watched a single Match in the last t20 world Cup and now u aren't even reading the posts properly.


If u did that u would have known that he demolished the top class New Zealand batting lineup with his scintillating bowling performance.

Bowled well against New Zealand I meant. What a ridiculous statement that I haven't watched a single match because I mistakenly wrote Australia instead of Bangladesh. He was terrible against India because the novelty factor has faded against India. Was average against Australia too.. Taken to cleaners by maxwell
 
"Mustafizur has got the skill set, X-factor Wasim Akram had" : Dale Steyn

Two different bowlers. Mustafizur looks like the real deal. Unplayable at times.

But there is a chance that batsmen will eventually pick those cutters out of his hand.
 
Starc is a fantastic bowler. I'll agree with you here. But that doesn't mean that he's better than fizz. At best he's on par with fizz.

But it's true that both of them are head and shoulders above rest of the bowlers who are currently playing odi cricket. :yk

Starc is better than mustafizur what is hard to understand about that? The swing that starc gets mustafizur dreams of having. Also starc dominated the World Cup last year which was batsmen dominated tournament when mustafizur does that than compare the 2 until than don't mention mustafizur name in the same sentence as starc.
 
Mohammad Amir + Wahab Riaz + Mohammad Sami + Mohammad Irfan = 12 wickets

Mustafizur Rahman = 9 wickets in 3 matches

And the WT20 was in India
Cheap wkts on slow decks ..Bangladesh won a match ? No
.was smashed on bowling friendly wkts in Asia cup and anyways this is his best and Amir's weakest format.. Amir is far superior than Musta in test

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Pakistan fans incensed because Mustafizur's being compared to Wasim.

Indian fans incensed possibly because we've never produced a fast bowler who's ever been compared to Wasim by anyone respectable, despite all the money being pumped into the game.

And Bangladeshi fans incensed because they know that unless he does well in Tests - an arena where he will be let down by his teammates - The Fizz will not get the global respect he seems to deserve.

You could roast a feast on the all round burn. :ibutt
 
Cheap wkts on slow decks ..Bangladesh won a match ? No
.was smashed on bowling friendly wkts in Asia cup and anyways this is his best and Amir's weakest format.. Amir is far superior than Musta in test

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LOL. He single handedly took Bangla to the Asia cup final. If rain hadn't interruptrd the final he would've won it for Bangladesh.


Who told u that amir is superior than Musta in Tests. Lol. England is the only place where amir did well in test and the reason behind his success is quite obvious. Isn't it? England is considered as heaven for swing bowling and any xyz fast bowler looks like Steyn in that condition. :yk2


Apart from England he was miserable in every other places he visited in his short career. He had an an average of 45 or something like that in SL,NZ and Australia.


He has an average of fortyyyyyyyyyy but, but he's better than fizz. Give me a break pls. :yk
 
this is a joke rigjht? whats fizz ever done in tests or even odis to be compared to wasim?
 
He don't have the skills of wasim but he can be as successful as he was only due to his cutters and yorkers.he is my favourite bowler now by somehow he needs to improve swing
 
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