|| CF DESK ||

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) management was optimistic that pacer Mustafizur Rahman will be prepared to play for the team whenever he needed in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, starting from March 22.

With Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana being ruled out of the tournament for 4-5 weeks, the cutter master Mustafizur has more chance to fill the void of the position.

The franchise was hopeful to have Mustafiz in the playing XI from the first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 22.

"Fizz will join the camp on March 20, a couple of days before our opener against RCB [Royal Challengers Bangalore]. He knows what it takes, and we will see how he shapes up," a CSK official was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Chennai will be Mustafizur's fifth IPL team after playing in Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals in the previous seasons.

The experienced bowler from Bangladesh has picked up 47 wickets from 48 IPL matches at an average of 30.72. He has maintained a decent economy of 7.93.

He is also Bangladesh's second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 103 strikes from 85 matches at 22.27.