'Adjusting to Caribbean conditions will be key'

RUBEL HOSSAIN

Since making his international debut over ten years ago, fast bowler Rubel Hossain has witnessed both sides of the coin in his stop-start career until the seamer finally established himself as one of the pace bowling spearheads in the Tigers' line-up.

Rubel, who missed the last three rounds of the Bangladesh Cricket League due to illness, has returned to training at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium ahead of the upcoming series against Afghanistan in June, which will be followed by a tour of the West Indies.

The 28-year-old said that he was feeling good, but added that he needed to work on his fitness.

Regarding the trip to the West Indies, where the Tigers are going to play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is, the pacer with the slinging action seemed optimistic, saying that Caribbean conditions always assist pacers.

Rubel added that Bangladesh's recent improvement in the ICC Test rankings, which saw them move ahead of the West Indies and into eighth place, would act as a big psychological boost.

"I have played in West Indies before and the wickets there help fast bowlers. They [West Indies] always had a good fast bowling unit and they might look to make a fast bowling friendly pitch. Our bowlers will have to adjust with the condition quickly. So preparation is very important and we also have a practice game before the series and we will look to utilise that properly," Rubel told reporters yesterday.

However, Bangladesh were unable to make the most of seam-friendly conditions in New Zealand earlier last year and also on the tour of South Africa in September last year.

Speaking about the ICC World Cup -- which always reminds Rubel of his last-over heroics against England in the 2015 World Cup which guided Bangladesh to the quarterfinals of the mega-event for the first time -- the pacer informed that despite friendly conditions, pitches across the world tend to help batsmen more than bowlers these days.

"Not only in England; these days pitches are high scoring everywhere. Even when we went to South Africa we thought it would help the seamers but it was more of a flat track so we have to prepare accordingly," the cricketer from Bagerhat added.

Rubel also spoke about his 'Butterfly' delivery, which is also known as a knuckleball, saying that mastering the art of the delivery was all about confidence and that he was looking forward to applying it in the future.