Mustafiz must prove his fitness for India Tests

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman will have to prove his fitness in the upcoming match of National Cricket League (NCL) in order to make himself available for the Test series against India, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said, reports Cricbuzz.

Mustafizur missed the first-phase game of the NCL, Bangladesh' premier first-class event, on account of his non-recovery from the ankle injury. Mustafizur is expected to feature in the second phase of NCL, scheduled to begin today (Thursday), when he takes the field for Khulna Division against Rajshahi Division at their hometown.

BCB earlier stated that the national cricketers will have to take part in at least two editions of NCL as part of their preparation for the upcoming tour of India, scheduled in November, comprising three T20s followed by two Test matches.

The team management has decided to utilise Mustafizur sparingly by judiciously managing his Test workload in the recent past. However, according to the chief selector, his availability for selection for the tour of India will be judged by his ability to withstand pressure in the longer format of the NCL.

"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 at the BCB premises on Tuesday.

"The physio had given us some guidelines. He was supposed to play from the very first match. However, because he has some minor problem 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 said.

"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" he said.

He further added that Mustafizur's selection for the Tests in India would purely be the team management's call: "This is completely the decision of team management." he said. "We don't work in the field. There is fitness trainer, bowling coach, who will judge whether he can bowl in back-to-back matches and how many overs he can bowl."

Abedin also expressed concerns over the fitness of the national team's pacers, given that the likes of Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin are recovering from injuries.