Mustafizur Rahman to be replaced by Shafiul for the remainder of South Africa tour

Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who has missed the first couple of ODI’s after twisting his ankle during a practise session ahead of the three-match ODI series. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has confirmed that the pacer will fly back home on Monday.

Fellow pacer Shafiul Islam will leave Dhaka on Thursday to join the squad for the drills ahead of the encounter. Bangladesh has already lost two of their previous matches. The opening game of the series saw Bangladesh comprehensively beaten by a 10-wicket margin and followed it up with a 104-run loss in the second ODI.

The Bangladesh pace-attack seemed a little weak and toothless in the opening two games against the No.1 ODI side. With the addition of Shafiul Islam, the balance may just be brought back in the side.

Taskin Ahmed’s place in jeopardy:

“Naturally losing Mustafiz is a big blow for us,” Habibul Bashar, member of the selection panel, told Cricbuzz on Thursday (October 19). “He is one of our key bowlers in the shorter format considering his performance compared to Test cricket and now we have to accept and look forward.

“I think he will not be totally new to the situation as he was there with the Test squad earlier. He is an experienced campaigner and was quite remarkable for Khulna Titans in the last edition of BPL,” Bashar added.

Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman have been under the pump in the two ODI’s conceding nearly eight runs an over. The only shining light in the Bangladesh’s otherwise dull unit is the right-arm pace of Rubel Hossain. Shafiul Islam will now compete head-to-head with Taskin Ahmed for a place in the playing XI.

“I am not sure whether we can get him in the last ODI as lot of things are related with it like his fitness as well as jet-lag issues but we are confident that we can consider him in the last two T20Is,” Bashar concluded.

Bangladesh will play the final ODI on Sunday.