Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman is no longer an auto choice in the T20I playing XI, said Bangladesh national team director Khaled Mahmud.
Former Bangladesh captain and currently a director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Mahmud made the statement on the back of Mustafizur’s long sustaining below par form in the shortest format of the game.
Considering the recent games, Mustafizur in the second and third T20I on tour of the West Indies in July had economy of 9.25 and 13.5 respectively.
Though he had completed four overs in the second game, Mustafizur bowled only two overs in the third and remained wicketless.
Against Zimbabwe, the left-arm pacer conceded runs at an economy of 12.5, 7.5 and 5.5 and finished with four wickets in the series. Bangladesh lost both the series.
And last Tuesday in Bangladesh’s opening game in the ongoing Asia Cup, against Afghanistan, it was Mustafizur’s over that tilted the balance completely in Afghanistan’s favor.
Mustafizur came to bowl the 17th over when Afghanistan needed another 43 to win.
He leaked 17 runs in the over giving away two over boundaries and two wide deliveries.
The left-arm pacer bled 30 runs in three overs in the low-scoring game and remained wicketless.
“May be [that he is no more an auto choice in the playing XI]. We are a bit concerned to be honest. This is not a new question for the team management,” said Mahmud to the media in Dubai Wednesday.
“But we believe Mustafizur is still among the best we have. He has variations which many of our fast bowlers do not have. It is may be that he is not being able to make use or execute his variations. Something is really wrong,” Mahmud added.
“It is concerning that he has not bowled his best in the last 15 or 16 games. There is nothing such as auto choice but given his caliber and experience we always keep him ahead [while selecting team]. But I strongly believe that form is temporary, class is permanent. I believe Mustafizur will be able to come out from this situation and win matches for the team,” said Mahmud.
Bangladesh are on the backfoot having started the Asia Cup on a losing note with the seven-wicket defeat against Afghanistan at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Placed in Group B, Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka Thursday at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka had lost their first game against Afghanistan by eight wickets and are behind Bangladesh in terms of net run rate.