Mustafizur’s IPL entry, a great sign for Bangladesh cricket: Habibul Bashar

Former Bangladeshi skipper and national selector Habibul Bashar has commended the growth of T20 in the country. Bashar, who was part of the panel that selected the squad for the Asia Cup, said that the Bangladesh players featuring in the IPL were a great sign of things to come. Bashar singled out Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib al Hasan, two of the more prominent Bangladesh players to feature in the IPL.

When asked about Bangladesh’s chances, Bashar said that it would entirely depend on their performances in the Asia Cup. “It’s certainly a good tune-up ahead of the World T20 next month. If it was happening in the 50-over format, I would have been very confident of Bangladesh’s chances. But in T20 format, one can’t say what’s going to happen since things change quickly.

“Having said that, we have a good bunch of players who have been performing consistently at the highest level for Bangladesh for some years, and I believe we have a fair chance,” Bashar said.

Bashar also said that the Bangladeshi side consists of much more match winners in the current regime. “In our time, we didn’t have as many match-winners as we have now. In the last few years, Bangladesh has won against quality sides on a more consistent basis which has given us a lot of confidence. Towards the end of my career, the likes of Shakib, Mushfiqur came into the side, and today the others look up to them.”

“Shakib and Tamim have featured in different T20 leagues across the world which is a big plus. Also, the recent IPL auction saw Mustafizur Rahman being picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad which is a great sign. With more and more players getting the experience of playing in T20 leagues, our performances in this format is bound to go up,” Bashar added.