All eyes on Mustafizur

Sports desk: Will Mustafizur Rahman make his comeback to competitive cricket when the Tigers play their second and final practice match in Australia against Sydney Thunder today?

A team source informed that the pace sensation, who was said to be operating at 90 per cent intensity before leaving the country for the preparation camp in Sydney, bowled at full steam in the nets in the last few days of the preparation camp and it may not be unlikely to bowl him for one or two overs.

When contacted, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that he talked with the team management over phone but did not discuss anything regarding the team for today's match. However, he said there was almost no chance of seeing Mustafizur bowling in Australia; instead he may play the practice match in Auckland on December 22 if everything goes well. He added that they do not want to take any risks with Mustafizur, who is yet to play his first competitive game since his shoulder operation in August.

It was learnt that Mustafizur had consulted a local doctor on Wednesday, and got the go-ahead.

Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were rested for the rain-interrupted game against Sydney Sixers, which BCB XI won by seven wickets through the Duckworth-Lewis method but they may play the last game for some practice at the Spotless Stadium before leaving for New Zealand on December 19.

Other than the team meeting, the Tigers enjoyed a rest day yesterday and some only did gym work. The players were in ‘feel-good' mode after winning the first match but had hardly given any importance to the outcome as the team has bigger ambitions for the trip. Soumya Sarkar's impressive performance in the first game probably was the most satisfying fact for the team management as the left-handed batsman cum gentle medium pacer started the trip on the back of a prolonged bad patch.

Sydney Thunder has named a 14-player squad to take on BCB XI starting at 7:00pm local time (2:00pm BST) and will be streamed live on cricket.com.au. There is doubt, because of incessant rainfall, whether the game will get underway at all.

According to Thunder's website, Pat Cummins will be available for selection for the Club for the first time since the 2014-15 Big Bash League after being the leading wicket taker during the Matador Cup. The Australia Test bowler recently took six wickets for Australia in his first three matches back to international cricket. England ODI captain Eoin Morgan is set to play his first game at Spotless Stadium.

SYDNEY THUNDER SQUAD

Fawad, Blizzard, Cummins, Doran, Gibson, Green, Lenton, Patterson, Eoin Morgan, McAndrew, McDermott, McKay, Nair and Sandhu.