Mustafizur will be closely monitored as he recovers from an ankle injury © Getty

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman will have to prove his fitness in the upcoming match of National Cricket League in order to make himself available for the Test series against India, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said on Tuesday. Mustafizur missed the first-phase game of the NCL, Bangladesh' premier first-class event, on account of his non-recovery from the ankle injury.

BCB earlier stated that the national cricketers will have to take part in at least two editions of NCL as part of their preparation for the upcoming tour of India, scheduled in November, comprising three T20Is followed by two Test matches.

The team management has decided to utilise Mustafizur sparingly by judiciously managing his Test workload in the recent past. However, according to the chief selector, his availability for selection for the tour of India will be judged by his ability to withstand pressure in the longer format of the NCL.

Mustafizur is expected to feature in the second phase of NCL, scheduled to begin on October 17, when he takes the field for Khulna Division against Rajshahi Division at their hometown.

"He (Mustafizur) will have to prove his fitness in the NCL game to be considered for the upcoming Test series against India," Abedin told reporters at the BCB premises on Tuesday (October 15).

"The physio had given us some guidelines. He was supposed to play from the very first match. However, because he has some minor problem with his ankle, he was not able to take the full load and therefore, was unable to play the first match (of the NCL)" he said.

"He is in the recovery phase now. We have to assess how many overs he can bowl. I have been given a guideline that he cannot bowl more than 15 overs (per day) in the upcoming match and so we will consider that and subsequently assess his fitness during the four-day games" he said.

He further added that Mustafizur's selection for the Tests in India would purely be the team management's call: "This is completely the decision of team management." he said. "We don't work in the field. There is fitness trainer, bowling coach, who will judge whether he can bowl in back-to-back matches and how many overs he can bowl."

Abedin also expressed concerns over the fitness of the national team's pacers, given that the likes of Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin are recovering from injuries.

"We were really concerned about our pace bowlers, because right now, there are many players who are unavailable due to injury. If I make a list of ten players, then five of them will be on the injury list," said Abedin.

"Our pace bowlers are always criticized for their fitness levels. Now, however, the way we are prioritizing our fitness from the first-class level, I think we will get the results in two years. If you don't have good fitness, it is really tough to bowl in two innings," said Abedin, implicitly referring to the beep-test that has been made mandatory for the NCL.

"We have to do well in every department to win - pace bowling, spin bowling, slow pace (variations) - every section. How you are executing your ability is important. You do not need to bowl at 140 (km/h). You can dismiss a batsman at 120 with some good swing. If a fast bowler can bowl 80-85 percent of ball in the right areas, then he can definitely put the batsman under pressure."

Abedin added that some of the Test members will take confidence from the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka A, given they played in challenging conditions.

"We haven't been getting results that are up to the mark on away tours. The players who have gone there (Sri Lanka), played really well. This experience abroad, I hope, will help in India, because we haven't been able to replicate our home performances abroad," he said.