Nahid Rana, Taskin Ahmed Set for Fitness Tests

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is continuing to monitor the fitness of its primary fast bowlers, with pacers Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed slated to go to Australia on Tuesday, July 28, for extensive medical tests.

According to a BCB official, the pair will be accompanied by Bayjedul Islam, the national team’s physiotherapist.

Nahid had already been ruled out of Bangladesh’s upcoming Test series in Australia due to a left-side injury received during the second Twenty20 International against Zimbabwe earlier this month. However, according to rumours, his travel to Australia is unrelated to the injury and is intended to evaluate a recurrent shinbone ailment that has plagued him throughout his career.

According to a BCB official, Nahid Rana has been experiencing pain in his shinbones for several years, prompting the board to contact a lower-limb specialist in Australia.

We had previously intended to check his shinbone difficulties with a lower-limb expert if we travelled to Australia or England,” a BCB official told Cricbuzz.

The official went on to say that Nahid’s side strain, which stopped him from playing in the Australia series, had nothing to do with his visit.

“As part of that plan he is travelling to Australia to sit with a shinbone specialist but he is not travelling there for side-strain issues because his shinbone pain is a chronic injury,” he said.

Meanwhile, Taskin is heading to Australia mostly to address his persistent ankle issue rather than any shoulder issues.

Despite the fact that the seasoned fast bowler is in Bangladesh’s debut Test squad, the BCB need additional information about the condition of his ankle, which has given him trouble throughout his career.

“Taskin is visiting for his ankle issue that he sustained earlier at different points of his career and we want to have a third opinion regarding its status,” he stated.

Bangladesh is tackling numerous injury issues.

Bangladesh has endured many injury setbacks leading up to their historic Test trip of Australia, making it difficult for the selectors to identify a side.

Habibul Bashar, chief selector, stated that the release of the 15-man team had been postponed due to an extending injury list.

While fellow bowler Shoriful Islam will miss the first Test with a hamstring injury, Nahid has already been ruled out of the tour. Litton Das, the wicketkeeper-batsman, will also miss the series opener due to a calf injury.

Habibul, speaking after Bangladesh’s Sunday team release, recognised the difficulties the selection committee faced. “We actually wanted to announce the squad almost weeks ago,” Habibul said on Monday, following the historic Australia visit.