Injury forces Mashrafe out of Bangladesh squad for Sri Lanka tour

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will not travel to Sri Lanka for Bangladesh’s One-Day International series after an old injury recurred during practice.

Sports Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 19 July 2019, 03:42 PM
Updated : 19 July 2019, 05:05 PM

Chief Selector Minhajul Abedin told bdnews24.com about the skipper’s condition on Friday evening after Mashrafe limped off the ground at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

“His injury is serious. He is not going to Sri Lanka. We haven’t yet picked up his replacement,” he said.

Minhajul said pace-bowling all-rounder Saifuddin Ahmed was also dropped from the squad due to back spasm.

Later, Bangladesh Cricket Board or BCB announced opening batsman Tamim Iqbal will lead the Tigers during the tour.

With top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and batsman Liton Das already rested, BCB has included pacer Taskin Ahmed and all-rounder Farhad Reza in the squad for the Sri Lanka series.

BCB Sports Physician Debashis Chowdhury said earlier in the day that Mashrafe was not well after hurting the old wound.

“He is not in a good state. His Sri Lanka tour now depends on the team management,” Debashish said.

Bangladesh team are leaving for Sri Lanka on Saturday to play three ODIs on July 26, 28 and 31 after a tune-up match on July 23.

Mashrafe played all the matches in the World Cup in England after hurting the hamstring on his right leg during the tri-nation series in Ireland which also involved West Indies in May.

He returned to the dressing room after injuring his hamstring on the right leg while bowling in the nets on Friday.

Besides Minhajul, BCB Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Akram Khan visited Mashrafe there.

This will be the first time Mashrafe is missing any ODIs due to injury since he got captaincy in 2014.