Chief selector Akram Khan said Wednesday that he is considering sending Mashrafe bin Mortaza to play in the last three limited over matches in the ‘A’ team’s tour of England as match practice for the paceman, who was injured recently.
“We are thinking of sending Mashrafe on the ‘A’ team’s England tour for the last three matches against England Lions. We want to see his current condition, as we are planning to get the service from him for the upcoming New Zealand series,” said Akram.
Mashrafe, who hurt his heel during this year’s Bangladesh Premier League final said he is looking forward to make a comeback, but wanted to be sure he was 100% fit. “Definitely I want to play and if Akram bhai asked me to play, I will definitely try my level best to play. I need to consult with the physio, trainer and coach as I have already started bowling off a short run up, but still it is not finalise yet,” said Mashrafe.
“It’s too early for me to say either I am able to be fit and I have my knee concern and as the ‘A’ team’s tour is very soon. Still, Akram bhai informed me about it and I am trying for it.
“Yes it’s a good opportunity for me before the New Zealand series. This will be good practice for me, but it’s up to the physio and trainer to decide what is good for me,” added Mashrafe.
Though uncertain of his physical situation, the pace bowler was confident that he was in command of the mental side of playing. “Mentally I am 100% fit. I am training every day, working on my fitness and at the same time, I am doing my rehabilitation properly,” he said.
Mashrafe gave an account of his injury troubles in recent times. “I made a comeback in the Asia Cup final but unfortunately I got injured in the BPL final and missed the last two series’. This is really unfortunate for me because I was 100% prepared to play those series’ against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka,” informed Mashrafe.
Speaking of the future, Mashrafe said, “To be honest, I would love to play Test matches for Bangladesh and I am planning to play Tests from next year and I will try to play the National League earlier next year and gain my fitness level for Test match,” said a confident Mashrafe.
Despite his plans, the bowler was wary of possible injuries. “My main problem is my knee. If I get injured again that will be bad for me, but there is no pain on my knee at the moment.
“There is no heel treatment in our country so I have to be very careful about this, which sometimes worries me.”