The veteran wicket-keeper and middle-order batter of the Bangladesh side, Mushfiqur Rahim, has been ruled out of their upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean, which will start on November 22. He suffered a fracture in the tip of his left index finger while keeping wickets during the first of the three-match ongoing ODI series against Afghanistan in Sharjah.
The former captain of the Bangladesh team has already been ruled out of the 50-over series due to the same reason but is expected to make his return for the ODI leg of the series against the Shai Hope-led side. This has been a huge blow for the visiting side, who would be without their most experienced member of the side.
There is no confirmation if Shakib Al Hasan, another former captain of the team and their poster boy, would be able to make the tour for the two Tests, having already missed the home two-match red-ball series against South Africa, the first of which was expected to be his farewell game.
Bangladesh to miss the vast experience of Mushfiqur Rahim in the West Indies
The right-handed batter has a decent record in the five-day format of the game in the West Indies with 375 runs in 12 innings at an average of 34.09, shouldering on one century with the best score of 116. Against the opponent, he has smashed 782 runs at an average of 31.28.
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Rahim, in his 94 Test matches, has cracked 6007 runs at an average of 37.78 and a strike rate of 48.47 with the help of 11 centuries and 27 half-centuries thanks to the best score of unbeaten 219 runs.
A member of the national selection panel has reported to the Cricbuzz website on the injury of Rahim but expects him to be back for Bangladesh in the 50-over format of the game.
It has been learned that his recovery would take around four to six weeks, as they don’t want to take a chance on the 37-year-old, who is towards the twilight period of his career.
“He (Mushfiqur) is not playing the Test series against West Indies as it will take at least a month or more to recover. As for the ODIs (against West Indies), we will have time in our hands to make a call on that after seeing his progress.” The selector expressed on the development.
Currently, Bangladesh is featuring in the 50-over series against the Afghanistan side, where they lost the opening clash in a shocking manner before the bowling performance of Allah Ghazanfar, who picked up six wickets in his 6.3 overs with an economy rate of four.
The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side was 132/3 at one position before being bundled out for 143 in 34.3 overs, losing their last seven wickets for just 11 runs inside 24 legal deliveries.
Rahim, who bats at five, came out at number seven in the clash due to an injury before returning home later. The team management hasn’t taken any initiative to find a replacement for the batter. With Litton Das expected to travel to Dubai this week, there were rumors of him taking the spot in the 50-over squad.
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“He (Litton) is going there for a personal reason and will be traveling with the squad when they depart for West Indies.” The Bangladesh official added that Das is yet to recover from the fever, completely.
The all-format tour for the Tigers will start at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on November 22 before they will move to Sabina Park in Jamaica for the second game on November 30.