Bangladesh’s premier and most experienced pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, has been ruled out of the T20I series against Pakistan due to an injury.
The left-handed bowler was attempting a caught-and-bowled dismissal of Josh Inglis when he injured his thumb in the process. The news was reported on Sunday by ESPN Cricinfo and later confirmed by the Bangladesh cricket team management.
Bangladesh national team physio Delowar Hossain assessed the damage and confirmed the news.
“Mustafizur suffered a clip fracture on his left thumb while playing his last match of the Indian Premier League yesterday,” Hossain said.
“This injury requires a period of rest and rehabilitation. As per our current assessment, he will be unavailable for selection for the next two to three weeks. We will conduct a follow-up evaluation after two weeks to monitor his recovery progress.”
This is the third time a Bangladesh player has been ruled out of the squad for the series after being named. First, it was Nahid Rana, who opted to pull out of the series due to security concerns. Then, Soumya Sarkar was ruled out due to a back injury and was replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. And now it’s Mustafizur Rahman, who will be replaced by Khaled Ahmed.
Khaled Ahmed has been in superb form for his domestic side this season, taking 20 wickets in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Half of the Bangladesh side landed in Pakistan on Monday, with the rest of the squad expected to arrive on Tuesday. They will play a 3-match T20 series against Pakistan. All the matches will be hosted at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
