Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) physician Manzur Hossain on Thursday (January 28) revealed that the Tigers are very hopeful of their ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s availability for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies starting February 3.
Shakib had suffered a groin injury in the final ODI of the recent three-match series against the West Indies. He collapsed almost immediately after delivering the fifth ball of his fifth over in the third ODI and he even couldn’t complete his over as he was seen grimacing in a lot of pain before leaving the field.
However, the all-rounder made a remarkable comeback to international cricket after serving a one-year ban, as he scored 113 runs and claimed 6 wickets to win the Player of the Series award. He took a four-wicket haul in the first ODI and scored a fifty in the final ODI against West Indies before being injured.
Bangladesh have been sweating over the availability of the cricketer for the West Indies Tests, but now it has emerged that his scan report is absolutely fine and revealed that there is no tear which means he is expected to feature in the first Test of the two-Test series starting February 3-7 at Chattogram.
Hossain told Cricbuzz: “His scan report is absolutely fine and there is no tear. Our physio Julian had seen him in the evening and there is an improvement. We are hopeful that he will return to practice soon.”
The BCB physician further added, “Probably he might have rest for a day or two but at the moment there is no doubt regarding his participation in the first Test considering his scan reports that we have received today.”
Meanwhile, BCB's chief physician Debashish Chowdhury said Shakib did not break the bio-bubble despite leaving the team hotel for his scans.
Chowdhury told Cricbuzz: “We have a protocol in place for this series and it is mentioned in the MoU what needs to be done in this kind of situation. The WICB officials are fully aware that we are following the COVID-19 protocols in this case.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
