Bangladesh hit with injury crisis

Bangladesh are currently undergoing an injury crisis as Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Shoriful Islam were the latest to be down with injuries.

All of them were injured during the first One-Day International of their three-match series against Zimbabwe on Friday in Harare. Earlier, Nurul Hasan Sohan was injured during the Twenty20 International series.

While Mushfiq and Shoriful are expected to overcome their injuries before the second ODI, Liton has a grade-2 strain in his hamstring muscle, meaning he is out for three to four weeks. This means he is not just out of this series, the right-handed batsman is also a doubt for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Sohan, who had his finger fractured, is also doubtful for the Asian mega-event as he needs at least three weeks to recover.

Bangladesh had injury issues even before the series as Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Saif Uddin could not tour Zimbabwe with back injuries.

Bangladesh Cricket Board physician Debashish Chowdhury informed The Business Post that Saif has returned from India after receiving injections, while Yasir is currently playing for the Bangladesh Tigers.

“Saif returned to Dhaka from India today (Saturday) after receiving injections. His rehabilitation will start tomorrow (Sunday). The target is to be fit for the Asia Cup. In the case of Yasir, he has some pain, but is playing for the Bangladesh Tigers in Khulna, so he should be available,” Debashish told The Business Post.

With a few of their regular players injured, BCB has asked for three extra days to announce their squad for the Asia Cup from the Asian Cricket Council. The final date was supposed to be August 8.

“Many of our regular players are injured. We also have to make sure that the injured players have recovered. We need medical reports. We asked for extra time and got it. We can announce the team by August 11,” BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said.

In this added time and injury crisis, the door for Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman, who are currently with the Bangladesh A team in West Indies. If they perform in the ODIs, they might be called up.