Asia Cup: India assistant coach Doeschate outlines "champion" Mustafizur threat ahead of Bangladesh clash

Dubai [UAE], September 23 (ANI): India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate outlined the threat posed by “champion” bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who stands on the verge of making history for Bangladesh during their Super Fours clash at the ongoing Asia Cup on Wednesday in Dubai.

Mustafizur, a known personality in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has emerged as one of the prominent wicket-takers in the T20 format. With 149 T20I wickets in 117 matches, Mustafizur, who is the joint-highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh alongside former all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, stands one shy of becoming the fourth overall to scythe 150 scalps in the format.

While Doeschate acknowledged the talented pool of Bangladesh’s players, he had special praise in store for Mustafizur. At the same time, Doeschate classified the 30-year-old as Bangladesh’s “premium” bowler and a player highly rated by the Indian management.

“Yeah, he’s a champion. He’s been around a long time. A very skilful bowler. We obviously know the skill sets that he brings. And I think for someone to do so well internationally over such a long time and obviously goes to IPL and does very well as well when he goes there. There are many good players on the Bangladesh side. And Mustafiz is probably their premium bowler. So yeah, we rate him high,” Doeschate said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

However, Mustafizur has struggled to scalp wickets against the T20 world champions. In 13 appearances against India, he has managed just eight scalps at an average of over 57.

In the ongoing tournament, the crafty quick has enjoyed a prolific run on the UAE’s surfaces. He boasts seven wickets in four appearances at an average of 15 with best figures of 3/20. He is also the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the 2025 Asia Cup.

India squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup: Litton Das (c), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali Anik, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Shaif Uddin. (ANI)

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