Last Updated on 10 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
Bangladesh fast bowler Nahid Rana will not tour Australia due to a side strain injury. Bangladesh chief selector, Habibul Bashar while talking to cricinfo termed the injury “unfortunate” and said it is always a difficult task to keep fast bowlers away from injuries.
Rana has been one of the most impressive performers of Bangladesh this year, taking 44 wickets across formats including four five-wicket hauls. He is a special talent for Bangladesh’s bowling attack by virtue of his ability to create pace and extract bounce and those attributes were expected to stand him in good stead in Australian conditions.
The fast-bowler has already shown what he can do against Australia earlier this year in the ODI series in Dhaka where he gave some Australian batsmen a tough time with his pace and movement. After that series he was rested for the one off Test against Zimbabwe. He returned for the ODI series and had a memorable outing with the best figures by a Bangladesh fast bowler in ODIs with 6 for 21.
But a side strain injury in the second T20I put doubt as to his participation in Australia. Unfortunately, he has since been ruled out. Soumya Sarkar was called in to replace Rana, who was absent from the squad.
Related: I was immediately excited by Nahid Rana– Allan Donald exclusive CricBlog interview
Habibul Bashar on Nahid Rana’s Injury
Habibul Bashar, expressing disappointment over Rana’s injury, said injuries were a major concern for fast bowlers especially when they were in good form. Bashar said “We didn’t pick him for the Test against Zimbabwe by being extra cautious,” on Monday.
“He got hurt in the second T20I after having played the first two ODIs, so it was unfortunate. We could have avoided playing him, but the ODIs were part of our push towards the World Cup.
“We also have to keep in mind that he had to bowl enough overs. You can’t just let him sit out matches. He has to bowl a certain number of deliveries to be match ready. We had to consider that part too. His injury is unfortunate; it could have happened in Australia. It is hard to keep fast bowlers free of injuries.”
Bashar explains why he brought Soumya Sarkar back
Bangladesh has included Soumya Sarkar in the squad as Nahid Rana is unavailable. “Choices for Test openers were very limited and we had to go with an experienced player like Soumya,” Habibul said.
The southpaw last featured for the Bangladesh Test side back in 2021 and has been involved in white-ball cricket for the most part in the last couple of years. His numbers haven’t been great of late, averaging 20.22 in seven ODIs and two T20Is this year.
Explaining his inclusion, the chief selector said, “You can say that there was a bit of desperation. To be honest, the players who scored runs in the NCL are new. Zakir Hasan had played Tests before, but we felt Soumya had more familiarity with playing pace bowling. None of our players in the pipeline are ready. We have to give the likes of Shibli [Ariful Islam] and Pritom Kumar a year or two.”
The return of Soumya Sarkar gives Bangladesh an experienced option at the top of the order as the team prepares for conditions in Darwin and Mackay.
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