Bangladesh’s leading pace bowler Shoriful Islam said on Monday that being on the field is more important for him rather than taking a rest.
The left-arm pace bowler is playing non-stop cricket that began with Bangladesh Premier League followed by the home series against Sri Lanka and the ongoing Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.
Abahani Limited’s head coach Khaled Mahmud asked the pacer whether he wanted to rest before Eid-ul-Fitr as his fitness turned out to be a matter of concern.
Shoriful, who picked 10 wickets from four games, did not like the idea as he is more comfortable on the field rather than resting in bed.
“Sir (Khaled) told me if I want to take a break, I can take it. But I told him that as we have no games after Eid and if I can play one or two games, my fitness will be better,” Shoriful told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium after providing a match-winning performance against Prime Bank Cricket Club.
“It is okay (despite the heat) because I am playing. I feel good when I play. I had rested a couple of days back and after I returned, I felt unusual. So I feel if I am training, it is better for me,” he added.
Meanwhile, Shoriful said that now he is thinking of taking a break along with Taskin Ahmed while he added that it won’t impact his team due to their bench strength.
“In the next game (Gazi Group Cricketers), I am thinking if me and Taskin bhai could take a rest,” said Shoriful.
“If both of us rested, I don’t think it will have an impact as we have pacers of the national team and if they play, our absence will not be felt. Even if they play, it will be good for us,” he said, adding that he feels Mustafizur Rahman enjoys IPL more than playing for the national team as the pressure is less in the franchise-based T20 tournament.
“I think Mustafizur bhai enjoys IPL more than Bangladesh as the pressure is lesser there. In Bangladesh, the expectation is bigger and when he doesn’t perform, the pressure gets higher,” he said.
“He (Mustafizur) is performing regularly. It is just that he has been unable to perform in the last two or three games (for the national team). What I mean by pressure is that everyone’s expectations are quite high because of his performance over the last couple of years. Perhaps he couldn’t meet the expectations in the last one or two games,” he concluded.
