Fast bowler Rubel Hossain wants another chance to prove his mettle in the longest format of the game by earning a place in the Tiger’s Sri Lanka bound squad for the three-Test series scheduled to begin in late October.
Despite establishing him one of the best bowlers of the country in limited over cricket, Rubel played just 27 Tests over the last 11 years.
The 30 year-old pacer last featured in the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan in February, almost two years after his previous Test appearance against West Indies in 2018 and claimed three wickets in Bangladesh’s only bowling innings of the match.
Only 36 wickets in 27 Tests and a bowling average of 76.77, which is the worst average by any fast bowler in the history, is something that time and again worked against him always.
But Rubel refused to give up, saying he would give his best in a bid to cement his place in this format.
“You know that the game has started in England, Pakistan is also playing with them. We are also optimistic, there is a series against Sri Lanka ahead. We are all hopeful that the series will be very nice,” Rubel said here today.
“Basically I keep my focus on the Sri Lanka series. In that series, my goal will be to get a chance in the team, and if I get a chance, I will try to play well, I will try my best. And I’m practicing accordingly.
I am working on how to further increase the skill in fitness and bowling-wise. The main focus is the Sri Lanka series,” the pacer added.
Rubel who was the last amongst the fast bowlers to join the individual training programme, arranged by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), said he continued his fitness work at home with an aim to keep him fit.
“I came to Dhaka two or three days ago. Since I couldn’t work with bowling in Bagerhat, I worked on fitness. I am working on bowling here. We are following the rules given by the board when it comes to bowling, fitness, gym. I thank the BCB for making a plan for us very nicely. According to that plan, we are all working well on fitness, bowling, batting,” he said.
Rubel believes his fitness work in Bagerhat kept him in good shape and now it is down to just regaining the rhythm in bowling.
“In fact, when Coronavirus was at its worst, the cricketers had nothing to do. We moved to our own district and worked with fitness. In Bagerhat, I worked with fitness, I did running. Since my home is on the river bank, I have run a lot in the sand. I didn’t get a chance to bowl or bat, and it was raining every day,” he remarked.