Shakib Al Hasan injured his ribs during the recently-concluded ODI series
Russell Domingo, the Bangladesh head coach, said on Tuesday that a call on Shakib al Hasan’s inclusion in the opening Test against India, to be played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, will be made after assessing the all-rounder later in the evening.
The focus has been on Shakib since the morning in ZACs. He left the practice ground to get a medical check-up done of his ribs, which was hurt by Umran Malik in the recently-concluded ODI series in Dhaka.
Cricbuzz understands that Shakib had a scan in Dhaka and nothing serious was found in that. However, the all-rounder wanted to get a further check done on Tuesday as he continues to feel comfortable in his ribs.
“It is nothing serious, and since there was no other transportation available, he was sent in an ambulance. He (Shakib) had some stiffness and he went for a checkup,” a BCB official told Cricbuzz on Tuesday.
Shakib returned to the stadium after half an hour and even opted to have a net session for 16 minutes. He batted against the spinners for 10 minutes before taking throwdowns from Jamie Siddons.
While Shakib was batting in the nets, Domingo was aat the pre-match press conference where he announced that they are not sure whether Shakib is available for the opening Test against India.
“Look we are still assessing him and we would make a call later on this afternoon to make sure he is okay. He is still struggling with his ribs and shoulders a little bit. Hopefully, he can go on hitting some balls and go see how he is doing this afternoon,” Domingo told reporters at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Domingo confirmed that Taskin Ahmed won’t be playing in the opening Test. The pacer had suffered a back injury and team management was forced to rest him in the opening two ODIs of the three-match series against India.
“We are not going to risk Taskin in the first Test,” Domingo said. “He has come off a layoff and few injections. To get him to bowl for day and a half in these conditions in Chattogram is maybe not good for him.”
