Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman hopes to return with a bang after missing out his national red-ball contract. However, he believes to improve in the coming days as well. He was considered one of the most talented pace bowler across formats but failed to keep up the expectations. He last played a Test match in New Zealand in March 2019 and since then he didn’t play.
“It’s good for me because now I’ve understood that I need to improve as I will not be able to make it in the team with what I have,” Mustafizur told reporters. “Now I will try to improve so that I can take my bowling to the next level and so that I can play in all formats.”
“I can make a comeback in the Test team only if my hands start to work better. Now I am trying something new because now everyone knows about me. At first they didn’t know about me and I could easily get a wicket but now it has been a bit difficult for me,” he added.
Mustafizur Rahman further added that he didn’t get the success on foreign soil because of the home pitches that doesn’t help him, and also added that now he finds a lack of confidence in his yorker too.
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“The ball grips well on home wickets but outside it is not same while the off-cutter changes its direction quite well at home but that is not the case elsewhere,” Mustafizur Rahman said. “There are some wickets where, after having a look, you can say that it will produce 350 runs while there will be others with 250 runs.”
“That 250-run wickets have been good for me but sometimes there will be bad days and on such cases even a favourable wicket may not help me. Now, there will always be ups and downs in cricket, you have to accept that,” he said.
“My yorker is not the same like I used to deliver and I don’t have that confidence [anymore], but I’m trying. I think there is problem somewhere. Now it’s going great again but still I do not get that confidence. I think there is something with my hand. I feel more practice is required because I have to make myself better since It’s been a while since I’ve produced something impressive,” he told.
Mustafizur gave credit to the new bowling coach Ottis Gibson who has advised him with a new grip but asked to focus more on his wrist position.
“I worked with Ottis Gibson but he did not give too many suggestions. He only showed me how to grip but didn’t say anything about my hand position but asked me to keep the wrist firm and in the right position,” he concluded.
