BCB president suggests Mustafizur Rahman to take rest before IPL 10

The Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan has advised the speedster, Mustafizur Rahman to rest for a period of 10 days before he joins his team for the IPL. At the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo yesterday, Hassan told reporters that Mustafizur can play ‘if he wants’, but only after the pacer has rested for 10 days at home following the Sri Lanka tour.

Indian online news provider Sportstar created quite a stir surrounding Mustafizur’s availability for the upcoming season of the IPL. Sportstar quoted the Bangladeshi as saying, “I don’t think I will be able to make it for the tournament this time around.”

Furthermore, Fizz went on to share with Bangladeshi reporters that he was called by an Indian reporter while in his hotel room on the evening of March 30. However, Mustafizur only told the reporter that the decision over his participation in the IPL is in the hands of the BCB, and that he cannot make any statements before the ongoing Sri Lanka tour ends.

“If Mustafizur is really eager, then of course, he will be allowed to play the IPL. You have seen that he still has not regained full effectiveness after returning from injury. And he has been bowling non-stop on this tour, first in the Tests and then in the ODIs,” Hassan was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.

The BCB president went on to add, “In fact, all the players need 10 days of rest after this tour. That is why we have pushed back the Dhaka Premier League by five days.”

Mustafizur Rahman is currently with the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the 2016 season, the Fizz, in tandem with Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, wreaked havoc in the opposition’s batting order. The Bangladeshi paceman picked up 17 wickets in last year’s tournament at an impressive economy rate of 6.90.

However, Nazrul Hassan stated that Mustafizur’s appearance in this year’s IPL will be curtailed as Bangladesh will be playing in the Ireland Tri-Nations Series alongside hosts Ireland and New Zealand, which begins on May 12. The Sunrisers will hence miss the services of the speedster in the final stages of the 10th edition of the IPL.