'How long has he been playing cricket?' - Khaled Mahmud lashes out at Mustafizur Rahman for prioritizing white-ball cricket

Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud wasn’t happy with left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman focussing on white-ball cricket more than red-ball cricket. Mustafizur, who is currently part of the Delhi Capitals set-up in IPL 2022 recently revealed that he would want to play more of ODIs and T20Is so that he can play the game for a long time. The statement did not impress Mahmud who felt that Mustafizur still has a lot to offer in red-ball cricket.

The 26-year-old has not been included for the upcoming first Test against Sri Lanka and his Test career certainly hasn’t shown the graph it should have. Since his debut in 2015, Mustafizur has played just 14 Tests picking up 30 wickets at an average of 36.73 and is yet to pick up a five-wicket haul. His numbers certainly suggest that he hasn’t prioritized Test cricket despite being a giant bowler in limited-overs.

I believe Mustafizur Rahman can be a dangerous bowler in red-ball cricket: Khaled Mahmud

Khaled Mahmud mentioned that Mustafizur is young enough to play all three formats and noted that he hasn’t yet reached the levels of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, or Shakib Al Hasan to choose the format he wants to play. He stressed the importance of playing Tests for the country and felt that Mustafizur is still the best pacer in the country in terms of technical skills.

“How old is Mustafizur? How long has he been playing cricket? He is not like Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur or Mashrafe who has given his service to the national team in all three formats for a number of years. It is important to play for the country,” Mahmud told the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

“I want Mustafizur to play Tests for Bangladesh. Considering his technical and tactical aspects, he is the best pacer we have got. He is a dangerous pacer in the white-ball format but I believe he can be a dangerous bowler in red-ball cricket as well,” he added.