Mustafizur clears the air about his Test cricket ambitions

Mustafizur announced his arrival in international cricket with a five-wicket haul on his ODI debut against India in Dhaka five years ago, in June 2015, and since then he has become an integral part of the national side with some remarkable performances.

He quickly grew into Bangladesh’s premier pacer, bewildering batsmen with his uncanny skillset – the cutters, the slower ones, yorkers. He was also expected to lead Bangladesh’s bowling attack across formats but somehow failed to find the same success in red-ball cricket despite being the country’s leading pacer in white-ball formats.

Despite being touted as the “country’s most talented pacer across formats” only a few years ago, he got axed from the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Test contracts list. Mustafizur last played a Test match for Bangladesh on their New Zealand tour in March last year, and since then hasn’t been able to make it to the playing XI.

“I want to play in all formats and I’m not sure how it came up,” Mustafizur told Fame Dubai. “Look, you have to consider the endurance of the body as well and sometimes there are big tours comprising several matches and I am rested [by the team management] due to my minor injuries and all those things which the journalists do not know about, but this is how the word goes around [that I don’t want to play Test cricket],” he said.

“But it is not true that I don’t want to play Test cricket. I personally believe that if one bowler is good only in ODI or T20s, then he will not be considered as a great bowler because he has to be good in all formats.”

However, Mustafizur admitted that he prefers a game that is completed within a day as the pressure is relieved in a short span of time and added, “So it feels good to play one-day or T20 matches but that does not imply that I don’t want to play Test cricket.” He also further stated that there are no second chances in shorter-format cricket.

“There is always a chance for bowlers to do well in Tests. Even if one spell goes bad, you will get a chance to bowl again. If one spell goes bad, you get a chance to do well in another spell. For example, in one spell you gave 50 in five overs but in another spell, you took three wickets by giving five runs in five overs,” he said.

“But in white-ball, you don’t have this opportunity. In the case of white-ball, you will bowl well in nine overs but if you bowl badly in one over it has a lot of effect on the team.”

In the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur’s role in the team is expected to change to a large extent as he will not only be the new leader of the pace attack but might also be called upon at the start for early breakthroughs, unlike in the past when he managed to survive on his slower cutters coming in the middle overs and was given the responsibility in the death overs.

Mustafizur said that he is well aware of the impending change, and as a result, he is now trying to learn how to swing the ball instead of just depending upon his tried and tested methods.

“I was working on how to swing the ball. I was trying to bowl early against Zimbabwe so that if I get a wicket by bowling early then my team will benefit,” said Mustafizur. “Like what Mashrafe bhai does now because when he will leave, someone has to step up and take that position. That’s why I was trying to work with the swing and the variations as well. If I can do this up to first five overs [pickup a wicket initially] then my team will also get the benefit and that is why I was working on it and focusing on bringing the ball into the batsman.”

“I’ve been playing for five years now, and if a new boy comes then I will share my experience with him and in that case, they will also benefit. It totally depends on whether you call it leading the way or helping out. In these five years, I have bowled in many tough places. I have bowled at tough times and I have bowled at easy times. Sharing these will benefit another player.”

Even as BCB has been reluctant to allow Mustafizur to participate in foreign T20 leagues, fearing injury, the pacer feels that playing in these tournaments has done him more good than bad.

“Along with IPL, I have played PSL for a year, then played BPL in our country – all these are in the same category because we have big players playing in our BPL. Playing these games is not only good for me but for everyone. Our local players who can play these games also benefit,” said Mustafizur adding that the experience had also developed his bowling in the death overs, a role that he enjoys.

Over the last few weeks, Mustafizur has been unable to practice since his hometown in Satkhira has been witnessing heavy rainfall since the Amphan storm.

“The storm was devastating. This is the first time I’ve seen a speedy storm. From home I had never seen such a storm earlier. Our area is normal but the condition is bad in two or three nearby areas. Nothing has happened to us compared to what the others have gone through.

“I can’t go outside anymore. Our physio and trainers have given us some work and we try to do it at home. I am trying hard but at the moment I am not bowling now. It’s closed because it has been raining since Amphan. I don’t have the opportunity to workout anywhere.

“I’m trying to do as much as I can inside the house but it will be difficult when we return to competitive cricket because no matter how much I work inside or outside the house, I am sure it will take some time for the rhythm to return,” he concluded.