‘Mustafizur Rahman enjoys playing in IPL more than playing for Bangladesh’: BAN pacer's bold claim after CSK star's rise

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman has redeemed himself in Indian Premier League this season after joining Chennai Super Kings. Rahman has been the leading wicket-taker for the defending champions at the moment with 11 scalps under his kitty. He has used his variants well on the slow home track of Chepauk which worked well for him and the team. The Bangladesh pacer won't be available for the full season and has to return after the May 1 match against Punjab Kings.

Mustafizur is not the only player who has got a new life in IPL after joining CSK as earlier Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane also redeemed themselves in the cash-rich league after joining the Yellow Army. He has claimed 11 wickets in 6 matches for CSK this year.

His Bangladesh teammate Shoriful Islam talked about Mustafizur's ongoing stint with CSK and made a bold statement that he enjoys playing in IPL more than the Bangladesh team.

"I watch every game and every ball Mustafizur bowls. I talk to him the day after the matches," Shoriful was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"I think he [Mustafizur] enjoys playing in the IPL more than playing for the Bangladesh team. It is because the pressure is less there. Perhaps, there are a lot of expectations when playing for Bangladesh and you come under immense pressure if you don't play well," he said.

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The Bangladesh paceman suggested that when you play for the national team there is more pressure as compared to the franchise league tournaments. The left-arm paceman's performance has dipped in international cricket in recent times as he has claimed just 7 wickets in the last 10 T20Is he played.

"He (Mustafizur) is performing regularly. It is just that he has been unable to perform in the last two or three games (for the national team). What I mean by pressure is that everyone's expectations are quite high because of his performance over the last couple of years. Perhaps he couldn't meet the expectations in the last one or two games," he concluded.

Mustafizur has played 91 T20Is for Bangladesh and has claimed 107 wickets so far in his career.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Cricket Board's cricket operations chairperson, Jalal Yunus recently fired shots at IPL and said that the Bangladesh team won't benefit from Mustafizur playing in IPL.

"Mustafizur has nothing to learn from playing in the IPL. Mustafizur's learning process is over. Rather, there are many players in IPL who can learn from him. Bangladesh will not benefit from this," Yunus said, as quoted by Daily Star.