Bangladesh Test and Twenty20 captain Sakib al Hasan is seen during a training session at the National Cricket Academy Ground in Mirpur on Tuesday. — BCB photo
Bangladesh’s Test and Twenty20 skipper Sakib al Hasan returned to training at the National Cricket Academy ground on Tuesday for the first time since injuring his finger in the sixth Bangladesh Premier League final.
The ace all-rounder hurt his finger in the BPL-6 final between Dhaka Dynamites and Comilla Victorians, which ruled him out of the three-match one-day international series and the first Test against New Zealand.
Sakib is also set to miss the forthcoming second Test beginning on Friday, but still has a slim chance of making it to the final Test of the series, which will begin on March 16.
On Monday, Sakib went through an x-ray on his bandaged finger on his left hand and the x-ray reports suggested that Sakib would need to wait for another week before removing the bandage.
Sakib, however, went to the Academy ground on Tuesday accompanied by Bangladesh Cricket Board Physio Morshed Hossain, who was in charge of Sakib’s rehabilitation programme, to restart his training.
Sakib spent half hour training in the gymnasium before rain shortened his running session.
Morshed told reporters that he had designed a one-week training program for Sakib to improve his fitness but the all-rounder was not likely to begin batting or bowling practice before a week.
‘He will do physical training for the next one week and later we will decide our next course of action,’ Morshed said after the training session.
’He is expected to do running while there will be gym session and everything will take place to increase his strength and stability.
‘I cannot say whether he can play or but it is very unlikely that he will start his skill training before a week,’ he added.
BCB president Nazmul Hasan put more emphasis on Sakib’s return back to health rather than him playing in the third Test as his fitness is very important for Bangladesh’s World Cup mission later this year.
‘What I heard is that he underwent a test yesterday [Monday] and he was prescribed a further seven days rest. So that’s the main thing. I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary for him to play the third Test because the World Cup is coming up,’ Nazmul told reporters on Tuesday.
‘If he has a problem then we want him to recover fully before returning to cricket. We don’t want to take any risks with him,’ he added.
Nazmul also stated that Sakib would have to be completely fit if he wanted to take part in the Indian Premier League.
‘If he is not fully okay then how will he play the IPL?’ Nazmul said when asked about Sakib’s chances of playing in IPL.
‘It can’t be that he is only unfit for our national team but fit for the IPL. If he is fully ok and the doctors say so then he will be able to play in the IPL.
‘We want him to play in both IPL and for the national team so the whole thing depends on his health.’
Source: New Age.
