Sports Desk:

Bangladesh pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman will be rested in the opening practise game against Sri Lanka.

Team official confirmed the development to Daily Sun on Monday

Mustafizur  began his preparation with Tigers on Monday at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi ahead of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in the first official practice game hosted by the ICC at ADC Oval 2 in Abu Dhabi today. They will play against Ireland on October 14 in the second warm-up match at the same venue.

The match kicks off at 8:00pm (BST).

Bangladesh national cricket team however reached Abu Dhabi safely from Oman, where they had a preparation camp on Sunday. Earlier on Friday, Bangladesh XI registered a 60-run win against Oman A in the warm up match.

Mustafizur, who was taking part in the Indian Premier League, was not part of the preparation camp as he was busy taking part in the cash-rich tournament for Rajasthan Royals.

The left-arm pace bowler inclusion can be a morale booster for Tigers considering he had a good run in the IPL, picking 14 wickets from as many matches.

“Mustafizur’s inclusion is good news for the team and his teammates. He played for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL here so he knows very well about the condition and wickets of Dubai. Shakib will also join us soon. Overall so far so good. I hope we will do well in the upcoming World Cup,” Bangladesh selector Habibul Bashar Sumon told the media in Abu Dhabi.

Following practice games in Abu Dhabi Tigers will return back to Oman to start their campaign by taking part in the qualifying round and they need to finish as one of the top two sides from Group B to seal a berth in the super 12s.

Bangladesh will start their World Cup campaign against Scotland on October 17 before taking on Oman and PNG on October 19 and 21 respectively.

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is expected to join the Tigers’ bubble after completing his stint with Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL and will miss the opening practice game while he is expected to miss the second practice game as well due to his IPL commitment.

However, it won’t hurt much as the ace all-rounder has been featuring for KKR in the recent past and has been playing his part quite well so far.

Mahmudullah wont be playing the practise game due to back injury.