Fizz to return for warm-up match

One of the major points of interests in Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand, which gets underway with the 50-over warm-up match against a New Zealand XI on Thursday, surrounds the hugely successful Mustafizur Rahman and when he will make a comeback after having recovered from shoulder surgery very recently.

That question has been answered today by Bangladesh Cricket Board chief selector Minhajul Abedin, as the young man lovingly called 'Fizz' will be in the starting 11 for the warm-up at Cobham Oval (New) in Whangarei. The pacer last played an international match on March 26 this year in the ICC World Twenty20.  

“We are playing Mustafizur in the practice match. Let’s see how he does there," Minhajul told The Daily Star. "If he does well, he will play the first match. If he doesn’t, he won’t. He still has a bit of a pain in his arm. Let’s see how it goes. It’s still difficult to say if he will be fit enough for the first ODI.” 

Before he left for Australia with the team, where they had a two-week preparatory camp, Mustafizur was said to be operating at 90 per cent. The left-arm pacer, whose slower cutters has continually confounded batsmen over his one-year international career, has the potential to be a crucial and game-changing addition to the Bangladesh squad. His bowling average in all three formats (14.5 in Tests, 12.34 in ODIs and 13.95 in T20Is) for Bangladesh is astonishing. His value to the team is illustrated by the fact that Bangladesh have only lost 9 of the 24 matches that Fizz has featured in across formats, while his bowling average in wins drops from a fantastic 13.19 across formats to an outlandish 10.11 in Bangladesh wins he has featured in. 

According to blackcaps.co.nz, the warm-up match against New Zealand XI will be broadcast by New Zealand cricket's official website here from 4:00 am Bangladesh time on Thursday.