Mustafizur Rahman will have to prove fitness in NCL for India Tests selection: Bangladesh chief-selector

Bangladesh’s chief selector, Minhajul Abedin has said that ace left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman will have to play the second-round of National Cricket League (NCL) and prove his fitness to get selected in the squad for the 2-match Test series in India. The talented seamer had suffered an ankle injury that proceeded to rule him out of the opening round of the NCL.

The Bangladesh Cricket team’s performance after the World Cup has been disappointing, to say the least. Playing at their home ground, they were humbled in the one-off Test by Afghanistan. So-much-so that the Bangladesh Cricket Board made it mandatory for the players to feature in the domestic first-class competition to warrant selection for the tour of India.

“He (Mustafizur) will have to prove his fitness in the NCL game to be considered for the upcoming Test series against India,” Abedin told reporters as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Mustafizur Rahman is in recovery phase now

“The physio had given us some guidelines. He was supposed to play from the very first match. However, because he has some minor problems with his ankle, he was not able to take the full load and therefore, was unable to play the first match (of the NCL),” he added.

Mustafizur will be returning from his injury in the second round of the NCL when his stateside Khulna Division will square off against Rajshahi Division, and he’ll be judged by the amount of strain he can handle in the longer formats.

“He is in the recovery phase now. We have to assess how many overs he can bowl. I have been given a guideline that he cannot bowl more than 15 overs (per day) in the upcoming match and so we will consider that and subsequently assess his fitness during the four-day games. This (his selection) is completely the decision of team management.

We don’t work in the field. There is a fitness trainer, bowling coach, who will judge whether he can bowl in back-to-back matches and how many overs he can bowl,” Abedin added. Mustafizur last played competitive cricket in the T20I tri-nation series at home, also featuring Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. In the series in September, he picked up four wickets. 

Bangladesh tour of India will start with 3-T20Is starting November 03 which will be followed by two Tests at the Holkar Stadium in Indore and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The 20-overs games will take place in Delhi, Rajkot and Nagpur. 

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