Mushtaq Ahmed keen on reunion with Bangladesh cricket

Bangladesh's spin bowling consultant Mushtaq Ahmed said on Monday that he is keen on making a return in the national dressing room after completing his current commitments.

The BCB appointed Mushtaq ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup and the impact was very evident given how he guided young leg spinner Rishad Hossain, who was by far Bangladesh's best performer in the tournament, picking 14 wickets.

However, Mushtaq's recent decision to join England U-19s as a spin consultant on July 7 raised quite a few eyebrows as the BCB were looking to extend his contract. But the Pakistan leggie has confirmed that a reunion is on the cards.

"My man is talking with cricket board in Bangladesh and I already signed few commitments as a consultant for some different teams and different counties and different franchises so I have to fulfill those commitments and after December hopefully I will be more free and yes everything is, very positive and looking forward to catch up with you guys again" Mushtaq told Cricbuzz on Monday.

"I had a really good time and I think they had great bunch of guys and can challenge any team I believe that and before I signed I did my work with all the cricketers of Bangladesh and I think they are very talented, all they need is to have a belief and confidence and they can challenge any team and I believe they can change that environment and hopefully can be a very good team specially with white-ball cricket," he said.

"I already made some commitments before I signed with Bangladesh that runs till the World Cup and I am looking forward to having a great time again." The BCB echoed the same sentiment and revealed that they are having positive negotiations and hence they are not looking for any other alternatives apart from Mushtaq at the moment.

"According to the communication we had with Mushtaq we wanted specific number of days from him but he could not give that because he had previous commitment like he had an agreement with England Cricket Board while there are other commitments as well and due to that we had made the agreement with him till T20 World Cup," BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National on Monday.

"I spoke with him even today (July 8) and he had prior engagements till December which included the England U19 job," he said.

"We are talking with him on long term basis and we provided him with the FTP that is locked till 2027 and he is looking at it and will get back to us soon. In the last press conference our board president said that we are keen to have him and because we are getting positive response from him we are only thinking about him (as spin consultant)," he said.

"After December when we will have him on a long term basis we would like to have him for a specific amount of days and he can work elsewhere when he is not engaged with us," he added.

If Mushtaq cannot make time before December, in that case, he will miss Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan, India, South Africa and West Indies. However, he is likely to be part of the Bangladesh contingent that will take part in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to be held in Pakistan.