It's too early to say whether Mustafizur Rahman will be part of the team which will tour New Zealand but the left-arm pacer has been making steady progress in rehabilitation to keep hopes alive.

The pace bowling sensation, who got a place in the 20-member squad, had suddenly complained about pain on his shoulder that was operated in England last August but bowled in the nets without any complaints over the last two days.

“We conducted an MRI today as a routine check and the report showed nothing wrong, as expected. His improvement graph is showing an upwards trend. We have enough time as we set a December 15 deadline for his full fitness to be proved and we are hopeful that he will be okay by then,” said Bangladesh Cricket Board physician Dr. Debashish Roy yesterday.

“He is now bowling off a short run-up and he was not feeling any pain. He claimed that he was giving 50 per cent effort in his bowling. We don't want to rush things, which is why we are not thinking about the New Zealand tour; rather our main objective is to get him fully fit. We will suggest carrying him with the team for the camp in Australia as we believe it will help his rehabilitation process,” he added.

Last week Bangladesh pace bowling coach Courtney Walsh also expressed his satisfaction over the progress of Mustafizur and the legendary West Indies pace bowler also intimated that they were not going to rush the process.

The 20-member squad will fly to Australia in two separate contingents on December 9 and 10 after the completion of the Bangladesh Premier League. The Tigers will train and play matches in Sydney during a 10-day camp, before leaving for New Zealand for three ODIs, three T20s and two Tests in December and January.