IPL opener: Fizz gets spot in best XI of Mumbai Indians
Bangladesh’s cuter master Mustafizur Rahman was placed in the best eleven of Mumbai Indians to play the opener of the 11th Indian Premier League (IPL) against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday night.
The opener of the eight-team Twenty20 league started at 8:30pm (Bangladesh time) where defending champions Mumbai Indians were on batting as Chennai Super Kings elected to bowl first after winning the toss, reports the UNB.
However, these two sides — defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — met each other in the final of the IPL 2015 and IPL 2013.
The soft spoken Fizz is appearing in this edition IPL for Mumbai Indians but his 3rd stint in the meet after twice for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and 2017.
Starting with base price INR 1 crore, Fizz was sold in IPL auction 2018 for $3.38m (INR 2.20 crore equivalent to BDT 2.82 crore) while in IPL auction 2016 for $208,000 (INR 1.40 crore equivalent to BDT 1.62 crore).
Sensational Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman first appeared in the 9th IPL at the age of his 20 and his side Sunrisers Hyderabad clinched the title for the first time in 2016.
Fizz played a vital role for his side, capturing 17 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 24.76 runs with the best bowling figure of 3/16 in his first appearance.
The left-handed pacer, Fizz was adjudged Emerging Player of the competition in 2016, finishing the tournament as the 5th highest wicket-taker with an economy rate of 6.90, conceding 421 off 366 balls.
Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Fizz for the next stint in IPL 2017, when he could appear for only one match with wicket-less show off 16 balls conceding 34 runs. He missed the rest of the league matches due to injury as well as for national assignment to Sri Lanka.
He scalped 17 wickets in 17 matches in the last two seasons, at average 26.76 runs, with best economy rate of 7.14. He conceded 455 runs off 382 balls in 17 matches.
Mumbai Indians best XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mustafizur Rahman and Mayank Markande.
Chennai Super Kings best XI: Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir and Mark Wood.