Bangladesh team head coach Russell Domingo, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, confirmed that the management will take a late call on captain Shakib Al Hasan’s availability, while pacer Taskin Ahmed will not play in the first Test which begins in Chattogram from December 14.
On Tuesday morning, Shakib Al Hasan left the practice ground to get a medical check-up done of his ribs, which was hurt by Umran Malik in the recently-concluded ODI series in Dhaka. Shakib had a scan done in Dhaka, which didn’t show anything serious, but he wanted to get a further check done on Tuesday as he continues to feel comfortable in his ribs.
"It is nothing serious, and since there was no other transportation available, he was sent in an ambulance. He (Shakib) had some stiffness and he went for a checkup," a BCB official told Cricbuzz.
Shakib returned to the stadium after half an hour and even opted to have a net session for 16 minutes. He batted against the spinners for 10 minutes before taking throwdowns from Jamie Siddons.
Meanwhile, Russell Domingo who fielded questions from reporters ahead of the first Test match, announced that they are not sure whether Shakib is available for the opening Test against India.
"Look we are still assessing him and we would make a call later on this afternoon to make sure he is okay. He is still struggling with his ribs and shoulders a little bit. Hopefully, he can go on hitting some balls and go see how he is doing this afternoon," Domingo told reporters at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Tuesday.
On the other hand, he confirmed that pacer Taskin Ahmed will not be risked in the first of the two Tests. He suffered a back injury and team management was forced to rest him in the opening two ODIs of the three-match series against India.
"We are not going to risk Taskin in the first Test. He has come off a layoff and few injections. To get him to bowl for day and a half in these conditions in Chattogram is maybe not good for him,” Domingo said.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
