‘Used to have a conversation with him for a maximum of 10 seconds’ – Tom Moody on interacting with Mustafizur Rahman in the IPL

Tom Moody, the former Australian cricketer, said that he found it difficult to interact with Mustafizur Rahman during the Indian Premier League (IPL). Back in 2016, the Bangladesh left-arm pacer was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) where Moody was the head coach.

Moody, who has been replaced by Trevor Bayliss as SRH’s head coach, said that he could hardly talk to the speedster for 10 seconds. He said that it was youngster Ricky Bhui, who could communicate with the Tigers’ seamer helping the Orange Army be in touch with Mustafizur.

Ricky Bhui could communicate with Mustafizur, says Moody

“Yes, there was a player named Ricky Bhui in our team. Ricky Bhui was with the team at that time. He could communicate with Fizz. He has played a very important role in conveying the message to Mustafizur,” Moody was quoted as saying to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz.

“If you want to talk to someone like Mustafizur, you have to end the conversation in a frugal way. At the same time, you have to explain the words in a very general and specific way,” he stated.

“I used to have a conversation with him for a maximum of 10 seconds. Without Ricky, it would have been impossible for players and teams to keep in touch,” Moody added.

Mustafizur was picked by the Sunrisers after his stupendous performance against India in a bilateral ODI series back in 2015. He helped Bangladesh win the series and managed to grab the limelight. In 2016, he played under the leadership of David Warner and didn’t flatter to deceive by any means.

In that season, Rahman picked up 17 wickets in 16 games at an economy of 6.90, the best among all SRH bowlers. He also got the award for the Emerging Player of the Tournament. His slower deliveries turned out to be a massive headache even for the best in the business.

In 2017, he could only play a solitary game before he was ruled out. In 2018, he returned to play for the Mumbai Indians (MI). There he played seven games, picking up as many wickets. He remained unsold in the auction for the 2020 edition.