Before today’s match, Mustafizur Rahman had 62 wickets in 59 IPL innings. Shakib Al Hasan had ended his IPL career with 63 wickets in 70 innings. But today, against Punjab Kings, Mustafizur picked up 3 wickets, taking his tally to 65 wickets in 60 innings—surpassing Shakib to become the highest wicket-taking Bangladeshi in IPL history.
This was Mustafiz’s last chance in this year’s IPL, and he made it count, showing exactly why he is called “The Fizz.” In Delhi Capitals’ final match, the left-arm pacer lit up the field with a brilliant spell, taking 3 wickets.
At Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium, he first removed Prabhsimran Singh to give his team an early breakthrough. Then, in the death overs, he dismissed Shashank Singh, and in the final over, he sent the big-hitting Marco Jansen back to the pavilion. Overall, he finished with 3 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs. While other bowlers from his team conceded around 9 runs per over, Mustafiz maintained control with an economy rate of 8.25.
Punjab Kings posted a daunting total of 206 runs, fueled by explosive innings from Shreyas Iyer (53) and Marcus Stoinis (44 off 16). In reply, Delhi Capitals’ top order batted aggressively from the start. Despite losing wickets regularly, each batter maintained a strike rate of at least 150. The real game-changer came from a late-innings batter who smashed 58 runs off just 25 balls, giving Delhi the momentum to chase down the target.
Mustafizur had been called up for only three matches in this IPL season. With some luck, he might have played more. Still, it was a personally successful outing for the cutter master. In Delhi Capitals’ final match, not only did he contribute to a win, but he also broke Shakib Al Hasan’s long-standing record to become the most successful Bangladeshi bowler in IPL history.
