'Ready for all formats'

Mustafizur Rahman is not exactly a man of few words. But when you put a camera in front of him -- or a dozen cameras in this case -- you will not be able to get much out of the youngster.

You will, at most, get two sentences without a break, before he gives a blank look that suggests that journalists should proceed to the next question.

This has been the case ever since his debut and yesterday, when he came to talk to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur following Bangladesh's training session, was no different.

The one thing that was certain following the three-minute press conference though, was that the pacer was eager to get back to the international game.

Even before anyone asked him anything officially, he quietly but quite excitedly said: “Bhai, I am fine. Everything is fine. I have no problems now.”

If the 21-year-old goes on to play the first Test against Sri Lanka, he will return to the longer format after a gap of more than year. The last time he played Test cricket, he scalped three wickets in one over against South Africa in July 2015.

Various injuries and the shoulder surgery have however kept him away from the format ever since.

While the left-armer did seem quite unsure about himself following the New Zealand series, he seemed on top of things yesterday.

“I was not well for a long time and I could not play due to the injury. I was yet to get into the habit of bowling. But now I feel good. I could not go to India but then I played two Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) games and that did me a lot of good,” he said.

In his last BCL game he bowled 31 overs and that was what helped him revive his confidence.

“If I get a chance, I will try to do my best. In the BCL games I tried to bowl fast and swing the ball. The cutter, or the slower is not that effective in four-day matches. So I tried to bowl in good areas and get into my rhythm,” explained Mustafizur.

From throwing long balls to gradually bowling at a hundred per cent, Mustafizur had to work really hard in order to be finally deemed completely fit for the Sri Lanka series. He now claims to be able to bowl with 100 per cent intensity.

“I am ready for all the formats. If I get the chance in T20s and ODIs, I will do my best there as well,” said Mustafizur.