Mustafizur Rahman is a left-arm pace bowler who came to Dhaka to try out for a fast-bowlers camp in 2012, after he had impressed in an Under-17 tournament in his hometown Satkhira. He was admitted to the BCB's pace foundation and soon caught the coaches' attention to make the Bangladesh Under-19 side for the 2014 World Cup. Mustafizur made his first-class debut for Khulna in the 2013-14 season and after taking eight wickets in the U-19 World Cup in UAE, he was surprisingly picked for Bangladesh A's tour of West Indies. Returning from that short trip, he was viewed as a better bowler and slowly picked up more variations. He initially lacked pace, but built it up through the 2014-15 first-class season, when he took 26 wickets at an average of 19.08. Soon enough, the Bangladesh selectors picked Mustafizur for the one-off T20I against Pakistan, where he removed Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. Two months later, he was selected for the ODI series against India and became only the second bowler after Brian Vitori to take five-wicket hauls in his first two ODIs.