How Can Litton Das Use Mustafizur Rahman Most Effectively In Asia Cup 2025?

Bangladesh team in T20s (Source: AFP)

Bangladesh is a cricket crazy nation and has a lot of experience playing in the Asia Cup. However, they are yet to lift a trophy, and it is something that a new team under Litton Das would like to get off their back.

Over the years, the Bangla Tigers have been criticised for not playing an aggressive brand of cricket in the shortest format, and it is something they have worked on under Litton Das. They have tried to assemble a team of players who have power-hitting skills, and it has brought some positive results in the recent past.

However, to win the Asia Cup 2025, Bangladesh bowlers would also have to be at the top of their game against some quality batting units in the tournament. One of the key assets would be Mustafizur Rahman, who brings a lot of experience to the table. 

So, in this article, we will look at how Litton Das can use Mustafizur Rahman most effectively in the upcoming Asia Cup.

Mustafizur Rahman - A T20 Giant Of Bangladesh

Mustafizur Rahman is the most experienced T20 bowler in the Bangladesh's Asia Cup squad and is a genuine wicket-taker with 365 wickets in 291 matches. In T20Is too, he has 143 wickets in just 121 matches at a stunning average of 20.84 and strike-rate of 17.0. Thus, undoubtedly, he is a genuine wicket-taker who, with his timely blows, can help Bangladesh win some crucial moments in the game.

Now, let's see in which phases of the innings Mustafizur Rahman has been most effective in his T20 career.

Analysis Of Mustafizur Rahman In Powerplay - T20s

In T20 cricket, Mustafizur Rahman has bowled 194 overs in the Powerplay and more than 50 percent of his deliveries are dot. His overall economy rate is 6.63 in this phase while he has taken his 48 wickets at an average of 26.8.  In T20Is, his dot percentage is even better at 57.9 while his average and strike-rate is between mid 20s to early 20s.

It shows that Mustafizur Rahman knows exactly how to bowl his overs economically in the Powerplay while he can also chip in with one or two wickets on his day.

Analysis Of Mustafizur Rahman In Middle Overs - T20s

Mustafizur Rahman has bowled the least number of overs in his T20 career from 7 to 15. It is a phase where the batters mostly take less risk with field spread out and the left-arm seamer has taken 41 wickets in the 154.2 overs he has bowled. His economy rate is close to seven both in normal T20s and T20Is while the dot percentage goes down to early 40 percentage at the domestic and international level.

There is not much difference in his average and strike-rate in Powerplay and middle overs. It indicates that Mustafizur Rahman can be effective in the middle overs as well and the captain can use his experience with one over in this period if needed.

Analysis Of Mustafizur Rahman In Death Overs - T20s

It is from 16-20 overs that teams have mostly used Mustafizur Rahman in the shortest format. 43.4 percentage of his deliveries at the death are dot while it rises upto 48.3 percentage in international cricket. It shows how effective he is at the backend of the innings and has an economy rate of below 8 in T20Is. Also, most of his wickets, both in franchise cricket and at the international level has come at the death, making him one of the hot assets for Bangladesh in that phase.

Bangladesh's Bowling Combination For Asia Cup

Looking at the Bangladesh squad and their recent team combination, they are likely to go with three pacers and two spinners in their line-up. Taskin Ahmed is likely to be one of the pacers, while one between Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib will play along with Mustafizur Rahman.

Out of the options, Taskin Ahmed is considered as the most effective with the new ball. He often bowls three overs in the Powerplay, and can do that at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium during group stage games, where there could be some help with the new ball. The rest of the pacers can be distributed evenly in other phases, while Mahedi Hasan, the offie, can also bowl a couple of overs in the Powerplay. 

Ideal Distribution Of Overs For Mustafizur Rahman In Asia Cup

Therefore, looking at these bowling options and analysis of Mustafizur Rahman's performance in the different phases of the game, Litton Das can use his two overs in the Powerplay and the remaining overs in the death overs.

It would help Litton Das put pressure with dot balls in the Powerplay on the batting side, and then he can come back in the death to keep the opposition under control. However, depending on conditions, if Litton Das does use Mahedi in the Powerplay, then he can reduce one over of Fizz from the initial six overs and put it in the middle overs. Also, if Litton Das feels that he needs an extra over of his most experienced T20 bowler after the Powerplay, then too he can use other bowlers more in the early phase and use one of the overs of Fizz between 8-12 overs.

Incase of Top-Heavy Batting Line-up

Incase Litton Das Wants To Use Mustafizur's Experience In All Phases 

If he is to bowl only one over in the Powerplay, then it should be the sixth over, as batters mostly try to hit as many runs as possible in that over. Thus, Fizz with his variations and dot percentage in the Powerplay would be a perfect candidate to bowl the last over before the fielding restrictions are lifted.

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