Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman
Bubble-fatigued Mustafizur lacks confidence
Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman clearly lacks confidence ahead of the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting from May 23 in Dhaka.
Mustafizur joined the team bio-bubble on Monday, but he only took the ball on Wednesday as the first day of practice camp was hit by the rain on Tuesday.
While talking to the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mustafizur expressed his concern over doing well after spending a lot of time in quarantine.
Read:Shakib, Mustafiz join national team ahead of SL series
He played his last game for the Rajasthan Royals in the truncated Indian Premier League (IPL) on May 2. Since then, he had been in bio-bubble in India and in Bangladesh along with the allrounder Shakib Al Hasan who also played the cash-rich league for Kolkata Knight Riders.
“I was in quarantine in India and after coming back home, I was also in quarantine for days,” Mustafizur said. “I just played one game and joined a practice session this month. We only get two more days of practice before the series takes place. Now everything depends on God.”
The left-arm pacer was unwilling to rush with his bowling on Wednesday as he just came out of the in-room quarantine. He only did some fitness work while being in the hotel.
“Bio-bubble is tough,” Mustafizur added. “It’s tough and not only for me but for all players. I just joined the practice cam and took the ball today (May 19). It may create pain in my hand (if I bowl much on the first day).”
Mustafizur did well for the Royals in India. He bagged eight wickets in seven games. Had not the Rajasthan fielders missed a few catches off his bowling, he might have taken more scalps.
The pacer believes that it won’t be tough for them to do well against the Sri Lankans. According to him, both teams are equal in the 50-over format though Sri Lankans have more reliance on the young players.
Bangladesh are set to miss the service of Rubel Hossain in this series as the right-hander has been suffering from a back injury since the New Zealand series earlier this year.
Read: BCB trying to relax quarantine rules for Shakib, Mustafiz
In the absence of Rubel, the onus will be on Mustafizur to lead the pace-bowling attack in this series. He will be accompanied by Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Mohamad Saifuddin. However, the final squad for the series is yet to be announced.
The Tigers are set to play an intra-squad 50-over game on May 20 at BKSP, Savar. The final squad is expected to be announced after this game.
While the first match of the series will take place on May 23, the remaining matches will be played on May 25 and 28 respectively. All the matches will be hosted at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
3 years ago