A Bangladesh Cricket Board official said they are hopeful that pacer Taskin Ahmed would be 100 percent fit before the opening game against Sri Lanka but a final call will be made following his bowling session on 5 June.
Bangladesh are desperately looking to get Taskin fit before their opening game against Sri Lanka on 8 June in Dallas more so after another pacer Shoriful Islam is all set to miss their opening game after sustaining six stitches in his left hand during their warm-up game against India.
“Taskin has a good chance (for the first match) and that is the reason he is in the World Cup squad. Usually, this kind of injury takes four weeks to heal and at times, it can get a bit late but his progress is good,” Physio Bayjedul Islam told reporters at the Mustang Cricket Academy Indoor on Monday.
“Before (the opening game against Sri Lanka) he will have another bowling session on the 5th…He is expected to bowl in full run-up and full intensity and after seeing that session, we can clearly say whether he is available or not,” he said.
“We are hopeful that he will be 100 percent by the seventh,” he added.
The BCB retained Taskin in the 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup despite his recovering from a rib fracture that he sustained during the fourth T20I against Zimbabwe and subsequently missing the three-match T20I series against USA as well as the warm-up game against India on 1 June.
Taskin began his bowling on 1 June and was expected to have an outdoor bowling on 3 June 3 but due to heavy rain, the team management had to change the practice ground and went to Mustang Cricket Academy Indoor instead of Grand Prairie considering the latter was not usable due to rain.
While Bayezid is confident regarding the return of Taskin, he indicated that Shoriful is all set to miss the opening game against Sri Lanka.
However, he insisted that it is too early to rule him out from the tournament as he felt following their opening fixture, the left-arm pacer could return to action any time.
“Today (on 3 June) we will remove the stitches and see the healing…We will also follow that up and after three to four days, we will understand how he is healing and based upon that decision (from when Shoriful is available),” said the physio.
“It is difficult to say (whether he will miss both the games in USA respectively against Sri Lanka and South Africa) but his chance is very slim as far as his playing the opening game is concerned.
“Some people recover very quickly like a few days ago Khaled(Ahmed) also had stitches in his hand but he could play with the stitches on day nine,” he added.
