Fortune Barishal all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin proved his point in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League against Comilla Victorians at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.

The pace-bowling all-rounder made a great comeback in competitive cricket through the ongoing BPL but the way he managed to keep his cool against in-form Andre Russell, who is known to be one of the best sloggers in world cricket, surely indicated that the 27-year-old has returned to his best.

Russell was in a blazing mood and looked all set to give Comilla the last push when Barishal skipper Tamim Iqbal handed the ball to Saifuddin to bowl the last over.

Saifuddin (1-37 in four overs) repaid the faith of his skipper by giving only seven runs and not conceding any boundary despite the presence of Russell and Jaker Ali Anik.

Barishal can surely claim their gamble of picking Saifuddin despite he was not available in the initial part of BPL due to injury paid off heavily as he grew stronger with each passing day.

During the ongoing BPL, Saifuddin insisted that he still has enough time to make a cut in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup squad and the way he finished the lone franchise-based T20 tournament of the country, it only suggested that he is not far away from getting back his national jersey.

“I think if I can perform, I will be picked today or tomorrow in the national team,” said Saifuddin, who was recently seen with Slingy action in the ongoing BPL that marked his return to competitive cricket after March last year.

Saifuddin also said that he tried new action as he is aware that if he wants to survive, he needs to bring something new to put pressure on the opposition batting line-up.

“You have to try new things in a pressure situation. You have to have guts and then you can master it quickly and that’s what I did for the new action," Saifuddin said when his attention was drawn to the new bowling action. 

Saifuddin can claim that his new action is working for him as he gets swing with the new ball and has the yorkers for the death overs, a key element for any pace bowler.

Bangladesh are eagerly waiting for a pace bowling all-rounder to bolster the strength in the white-ball format and after Saifuddin’s brilliant bowling performance (15 wickets in nine matches) in the ongoing BPL, they might feel that they got their man at the right time.