Mashrafe Mortaza still hopeful of making a Test comeback

He is a 34-year-old seamer, has struggled with injuries, last played a Test match 8 years ago but Bangladesh’s Mashrafe Mortaza isn’t losing hope on making a Test comeback. Injuries turned out to be the biggest hurdle in his Test career and brought it to a standstill. He had to undergo surgeries on both his knees and as a result, he had to restrict himself to just a limited-overs player.

Though he isn’t certain when but Mashrafe has his intention set to wear the whites and run into bowl the red ball again. Having worked hard on his fitness and maintained a pretty consistent level of late, he feels his body can still take the pressure of playing the longest format.

“Every player has the passion to play Test cricket. Though I am 34 now, I still have that desire to bowl in white dress. Basically I have to take everything into consideration,” Mashrafe was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz on Saturday (December 16).

“So it is difficult to specify when I can make the comeback but surely I will try making an attempt if everything goes according to plan,” he added.

Has a plan in sight

The right-arm pacer wants to work on his fitness at present and then feature in first-class games in the domestic circuit. Once he is able to do that and sustain through all that while still making significant contributions to the team Mashrafe will push for a return to the Test squad.

“Now if I can develop my fitness and after playing first-class cricket I can make significant amount of progress, then why not make a Test comeback,” the Bangladesh ODI skipper added.

The report that quoted Mashrafe also mentioned that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan had asked the veteran if he was working on a Test comeback.

Test career

In his Test career the pacer picked up 78 wickets having featured in 36 games, he also has 797 runs to his name with three half centuries.

As per the latest FTP released for the team, they are slated to play at least 35 Tests between 2019-2023.