Shakib ruled out of T20 World Cup with hamstring injury in latest setback for Bangladesh

With the dream of securing a semi-final berth in the Twenty20 World Cup virtually out of reach, Bangladesh have been dealt a fresh blow as talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.

Bangladesh Cricket Board made the announcement on Sunday, five days after Shakib made his way back to the summit of T20I ranking for all-rounders, following a string of fine performances with both ball and bat at the ongoing World Cup.

On Friday, he sustained a hamstring injury while fielding in the match against West Indies that the Tigers lost by three runs.

Tests confirmed it was a Grade 1 injury, which will force Shakib out of Bangladesh’s last two matches of the tournament, BCB's Chief Physician Debashis Chowdhury said. The all-rounder will also undergo further tests to assess the extent of the injury.

But the BCB said it will not call up a replacement for Shakib, who became the second Bangladesh player to pick up an injury during the tournament.

Earlier, pacer Rubel Hossain, the lone man in reserve, replaced pace-bowling all-rounder Saifuddin.

Rules of the coronavirus bio-bubble will not allow a replacement to be flown in from Bangladesh to play in the United Arab Emirates.

A player must remain in quarantine for six days before entering the bio-bubble. Even if Bangladesh bring in a replacement, their tournament may end before the completion of his quarantine.

Bangladesh will play South Africa on Tuesday and Australia on Thursday.