Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam said he follows every game his national teammate Mustafizur Rahman plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"I watch every game and every ball Mustafizur bowls. I talk to him the day after the matches. I think he [Mustafizur] enjoys playing in the IPL more than playing for the Bangladesh team," Shoriful told reporters on Monday.

"It is because the pressure is less there. Perhaps, there are a lot of expectations when playing for Bangladesh and you come under immense pressure if you don't play well," he added.

Shoriful helped his side Abahani to a five-wicket win against Prime Bank Cricket Club in the Dhaka Premier League on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He scalped three wickets and bowled with zip in tandem with national teammate Taskin Ahmed to bundle out Prime Bank for 178. Abahani chased down the target in 38.3 overs to cruise to their 12th win, maintaining their unbeaten record in the ongoing edition.  

Read more

Lucknow wanted Shoriful but ‘NOC was too short’

Meanwhile, his teammate Mustafizur set the IPL alight when he picked up four wickets in the tournament opener against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru helping the five-time IPL winners off to a winning start. He has scalped 11 wickets in six matches so far and will get three more games to add to his tally before coming back home for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe starting on May 3 in Chattogram.

Shoriful admitted that people expect more from the Fizz because of his pedigree in the 20-over format. 

"He has been performing regularly. Maybe in the last two matches, he has not been able to deliver according to expectations. He has been playing well for the past several years which is why the expectations from him are higher," Shoriful said.

Shoriful also had the chance to play in the ongoing edition of the IPL as he was approached by Lucknow Super Giants, the same side that wanted to sign Taskin in the previous edition. But he could not commit to Lucknow due to a short-term NOC that Bangladesh Cricket Board would allow him which would not let him feature in as many games as the franchise wanted.