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The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the team management have decided to send two of its fast bowlers, Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed, to Australia ahead of the rest of the players for medical examinations and fitness assessments.
While Bangladesh is getting ready for the crucial two-match Test series against Australia, starting on August 13, injury concerns around its pace attack continue to grow.
Rana has already been ruled out of the series, while Taskin is racing against time to prove his fitness before the WTC series. Amid this, Habibul Bashar explains why Nahid Rana was rested for Zimbabwe one-off Test.
Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed leave before the main squad
Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed are scheduled to travel to Australia before the rest of the Bangladesh team. Rana and Taskin will fly to Australia on Tuesday, July 28, alongside the Bangladesh team physio Bayjedul Islam, while the rest of the squad will leave the country next week.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has planned this trip so that both pacers can undergo detailed medical examinations and physical assessments. The BCB said this was not a last-minute decision. It had already planned to send fast bowlers who were carrying small injuries or needed fitness checks before the Australia tour.
A Bangladesh team management official was quoted as saying by The Daily Star, "They are leaving for Perth, where they will go for overall scans. Taskin had several issues from before, and he needed a first-hand assessment so that going forward there would be no problem. His assessment is mostly for prevention, and he is available for selection.”
BCB reveals real reason behind Nahid Rana's Australia trip
Nahid Rana will miss the entire two-match Test series against Australia because of a shinbone injury. The young fast bowler will now undergo medical check-ups in Perth, where doctors will examine his longstanding shinbone problem apart from his side strain issue.
Nahid is expected to stay in Australia for around four to five days. After completing his medical assessment, he will return to Bangladesh and begin his rehabilitation to recover from the injury. Amid this, BCCI set to officially confirm Bangladesh tour soon as India-Afghanistan series faces delay.
A BCB official was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “Nahid Rana, from his early days, has been suffering with shinbone pain in his two legs, and he is playing by managing it. We earlier planned that if we traveled to Australia or England, we would assess his shinbone issues by sitting with a lower-limb specialist.
As part of that plan, he is travelling to Australia to sit with a shinbone specialist, but he is not travelling there for side-strain issues because his shinbone pain is a chronic injury.”
Why does Taskin Ahmed's Australia tour begin early?
Meanwhile, the BCB official also explained why Taskin Ahmed is traveling to Australia. Even though he has been picked for the first Test against Australia, he is not going because of his shoulder injury.
Instead, the senior fast bowler will undergo a detailed check-up for his ankle problem, which has been troubling him for some time. After the medical assessment is completed after four to five days, Taskin will stay back in Australia and join the Bangladesh team for the two-match Test series.
He said, “Taskin is visiting for his ankle issue that he sustained earlier at different points of his career, and we want to have a third opinion regarding its status.”
