The beleaguered Bangladesh side has suffered yet another big injury blow, as their star opener, Tamim Iqbal has been out of the remainder of the tour to South Africa owing to a thigh injury.
The southpaw aggravated the injury on his left thigh muscle for the second time in two weeks and will now head home on Sunday (October 22). The injury will also force him to remain on the sidelines for at least the first two weeks of the Bangladesh Premier League, which is scheduled to kick start from November 4.
The 28-year-old first sustained the injury during the practice match before the Test series and had gone on to play the first Test with the injury. He did not play in the following Test but surprisingly played the second ODI in Paarl despite knowing that another injury would sideline him for a couple of months.
“If I get injured again [in the same spot], then I will be out for two months which I hope the team management doesn’t want and neither do I,” he had said before the second ODI.
It will be a big blow for Bangladesh who has already lost the services of their pace spearhead Mustafizur Rahman and have been thoroughly outplayed in the series so far. Mustafizur was ruled out due to an ankle injury and has been replaced by Shafiul Islam.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will be desperate to bounce back against the hosts. The bowlers have failed to take wickets while the batsmen have not managed to put up enough on the board and as a result, they are yet to open their account against the formidable Proteas.
The visitors have lost the Test series 2-0 and now are in danger of being whitewashed in the ODIs, having lost the first two games of the three-match series.
The third and final ODI will be played on Sunday before the teams lock horns in the two-match T20I series.