I’ve never been an avid cricket watcher: Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman (Source -CSK)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, revealed that he doesn’t watch a lot of cricket as he enjoys playing it more. He is one of the key bowlers in the current CSK squad and is their leading wicket-taker in the ongoing IPL 2024, having picked up 12 wickets in seven games thus far.

The 28-year-old mentioned that he only tunes in for the final four overs of T20 matches and hardly watches the whole 40 overs. He further explained that he keeps an eye on the areas where the batters are striking the ball and analyses their gameplay.

“I’ve never been an avid cricket watcher, I prefer playing. I think that it’s better for me to watch at that period [death overs]. Even when I watch a T20 match, I only watch the final four overs or so. I try to observe which areas the batsmen are hitting the ball at, how they are playing. Very rarely I watch the entire 40 overs of the match,” Mustafizur said in a video shared by CSK on the social media platforms.

Also read: ‘The country should always come first’ – Former Bangladesh captain defends BCB’s stand on Mustafizur Rahman

The left-arm fast-medium bowler, who is enjoying his first stint with the five-time champions, said that playing for CSK has been a dream come true for him. The Bangladesh pacer was roped in by the Chennai-based franchise last year in the IPL auction for his base price of INR two crore.  

“This is my first season with Chennai. Since I began playing in the IPL in 2016, it has been my dream to play for the Chennai team. After getting the call [from CSK management] that night, I couldn’t sleep,” he added.

MS Dhoni showed me some field setups: Mustafizur

Mustafizur Rahman further mentioned the relaxed atmosphere within the Chennai team. He also opened up about how the legendary MS Dhoni and CSK’s bowling coach Bravo have generously shared their knowledge with him.

Also read: IPL 2024: MS Dhoni gets annoyed by cameraman from dressing room, video goes viral

“Everyone here is friendly. The environment has been good from day one, I haven’t felt uneasy at all. Mahi bhai [Dhoni] showed me some field setups, Bravo spoke to me about how to bowl in the death overs. These inputs have been invaluable. We mostly speak about bowling. I haven’t really spoken about anything else. We speak sometimes on the field about what to do. Mahi bhai comes to me and tells me that it would be better if I did this,” the 28-year-old concluded.