Mashrafe on the return

IF YOU ARE WITH US, …: BCB XI captain Shahriar Nafees (L) talks to Bangladesh paceman Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as they head for a practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. In a bid to return to international cricket, Mashrafe will test himself in the second one-day warm-up match against visiting England today. PHOTO: ANISUR RAHMAN

The focus will be on Mashrafe Bin Mortaza when the second limited-over warm-up match between visiting England and BCB XI takes place at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium today.
The fit-again pace spearhead bowled confidently the last two days in practice after returning from Australia where his surgeon gave him the green signal to return to competitive cricket. And he has been drafted in the BCB selection for the second practice match along with Zunaed Siddiqui and Aftab Ahmed to make sure there is nothing wrong for the country's premier paceman to make his international comeback after an eight-month break.
"I'm looking forward to bowling in tomorrow's warm-up match because it will help me to fully understand my position. But what I can say is that I am ready to make my comeback, as there is no problem with line and length in my bowling. It may take a little bit of time to get back the full pace but what I want to see in the practice match is whether my landing is okay or not," said a confident Mashrafe yesterday.
It was told that Mashrafe will be included in the side only when he himself feels confident and now it seems that there is no shortage of confidence from Mashrafe. The well documented 'fear factor' has seemingly vanished as he has got back the confidence after the all clear from Dr David Young, the Australian surgeon who operated on both his knees.
The question was raised about his long absence from the international arena and whether the transition would be hard, but Mashrafe apparently rubbished the idea by saying that he had a record of directly returning to the international cricket after recovering from injury.
"You know, it's nothing new in my career that I played the international cricket without playing domestic first-class cricket. I don't think it would be a major issue rather I am confident that I can give hundred percent effort if I am selected in the team," said Mashrafe throwing the ball into the selectors court ahead of the team selection for the three-match one-day series against England.
The big issue for the Rafiqul Alam-led selection panel however was not the inclusion of Mashrafe in the team.
The public focus is now on the fate of former national skipper Mohammad Ashraful when the three-member team announces the squad today or tomorrow.
The Rafiqul Alam-led selection panel were in a huge dilemma with the decision on the out-of-form Ashraful as it's not only the general sentiment rather most of the board members are also in favour of giving the former skipper a break.
Rafiqul however has already given the impression that he was not in favour of making any changes in the team and it was also learnt that both captain Shakib Al Hasan and coach Jamie Siddons, who will return from Australia today, echo the same sentiment. None want to give Ashraful a rest in the home series against England.
So, the selectors were in a yes-no situation about the selection of the precocious but inconsistent batsman, since they have to go against the popular and board members sentiment if they want to keep faith in themselves.
And it was learnt that there is every chance to see both Ashraful and Rokibul Hasan in the team despite their poor run of form.