Warner's sign to use the head results in Mustafiz’s bouncer instead

The Indian Premier League (IPL), though a domestic tournament, brings together players from all over the world, creating a unique blend of cultural diversity. While this fosters unity, it also presents communication challenges, particularly when players from different linguistic backgrounds must interact. This was notably highlighted in the 2016 IPL, where Australian cricketer David Warner faced a language barrier with Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, leading to a memorable miscommunication.

Warner, the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, was tasked with leading a team that included Mustafiz, who had made a stunning debut in international cricket just the year before. However, the language gap between the Australian and the Bangladeshi cricketer presented problems. Mustafiz spoke limited English, and with no other Bengali-speaking players in the team, communication on the field became a challenge.

Warner, determined to bridge this gap, took to humorous means to overcome the situation. In April 2016, he tweeted, "I was using Google Translate for Fizz. Trying to learn how to speak Bengali. Ha ha. Thora thora." While his efforts to learn the language were lighthearted, the reality of the communication issues hit home during a match.

In a story shared with cricket website ESPN Cricinfo, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody recalled how, during the match, Warner would often communicate with Mustafiz using hand gestures. On one occasion, Warner pointed to his head to indicate "think before you bowl," and Mustafiz seemed to understand. However, to everyone's surprise, Mustafiz bowled a bouncer, as he interpreted Warner's gesture as a signal to bowl at the batter's head.

This situation exemplified the broader communication challenges faced by foreign coaches and players in the IPL. While cricket is typically a team sport based on national teams speaking a common language, IPL franchises often feature players from various countries, speaking different languages. In 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad's coach, Tom Moody, explained that Warner's attempts to communicate with Mustafiz had created difficulties at first. "You think you're making a clear point, but the player might interpret it differently," Moody said. "That's part of the challenge of communication."

The problem wasn't just limited to Warner and Mustafiz. Ricky Bhui, a Bengali-speaking player from India, was brought into the team as an interpreter for Mustafiz. Bhui later shared in an interview that Mustafiz was particularly afraid of two things: batting and speaking English. To alleviate these issues, Bhui played a key role in helping Mustafiz understand the coach's and captain's instructions.

Despite these challenges, Mustafiz had an outstanding season, taking 17 wickets in 16 matches and playing a crucial role in Sunrisers Hyderabad's IPL title victory. He was also named the Emerging Player of the Year, becoming the first foreign player to win the award. This experience led to changes in team management strategies in subsequent years, such as when Sunrisers Hyderabad signed Afghan cricketer Mohammad Nabi in 2017 to help bridge the language gap for Rashid Khan.

The language barrier, however, was not unique to Mustafiz and Warner. In the 2008 IPL, Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla, who spoke little English, faced similar issues with his Australian teammates, including Brett Lee and Shaun Marsh. To understand their instructions, Chawla often relied on Yuvraj Singh to act as a translator. In later seasons, Rashid Khan, another Afghan cricketer, was seen playing the role of translator for fellow Afghan players like Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad.