 After his debut Ranjit Fernando stated on air that Mubarak's batting was "poetry in motion" and that he should be given more responsibility in order to improve the professionalism of the Sri Lankan cricket team.In June 2005 however, three years after his debut he had failed to live up to initial expectations and was looked over for selection and has been given limited opportunities since.In February 2006, he was fined after showing dissent towards an umpire in an ODI against Bangladesh

In August 2007 he was rushed into the Sri Lankan Twenty20 squad following the departures of Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold, following man-of-the-match performances against Bangladesh.