'Will miss our biggest asset'

Bangladesh pacer Al-Amin Hossain said yesterday that the Tigers will miss the services of Mustafizur Rahman in the coming series as he believes that no one can match the young prodigy from Satkhira.

“Mustafizur is our biggest asset. Every team made plans against him but it did not work and that's why the job from the other end became easy. When Mustafizur and Shakib [Shakib Al Hasan] bhai contain from one end, from other end it's easy to take wickets, so we will miss Mustafizur hugely,” said Al-Amin while speaking to reporters at Mirpur yesterday.

He also added that the sooner the 20-year old, who is now in England and is set to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder, returns to cricket the better it will be for the Tigers.

Al-Amin, who has so far played six Tests and 14 ODIs since making his international debut in October 2013, however said that they should take the challenge to fill the vacuum of the young left-arm pacer.

“We may not do what Mustafizur is capable of because he is exceptional, but he was not in the team a year ago and Bangladesh played. I think whoever plays will try their best to make up for his [Mustafizur's] absence so that nobody can think that we are not a good team without any particular individual,” opined the 26-year old right-arm paceman.

Injury is a common feature for the pace bowlers and Al-Amin believes that self-management is important for a pacer to avoid constant injuries.

“I think self-management like how I sleep, what I eat or how I respond to minor injuries are vital issues. It is very important that you follow the instructions of the physio when you face a minor injury,” he observed.

“Rubel bhai [Rubel Hossain] or Taskin Ahmed bowl at 140kph but I may get it up to 130 or 135. There is always a risk when you bowl fast. On the other hand we bowl with normal grip but Mustafizur's grip is exceptional, so there is always a chance of injury. I am however not sure whether overwork played any role behind his injury; the experts can say better,” he continued when asked about the reason behind his fitness.

During the long conversation Al-Amin rued the Tigers' long gap from international cricket -- at a time when even Zimbabwe are playing -- after such a wonderful performance last year.

“See, even Zimbabwe playing Tests. If we want to beat Zimbabwe we can do it. We performed so well in the World Cup, Asia Cup, against India, Pakistan and South Africa in home series but still we have been going through a long break. We are not getting international matches,” lamented Al-Amin.