Mustafizur Rahman celebrates © AFP
Pacer bowler Mustafizur Rahman is set to miss the start of the BPL – which begins on November 4 – as he recovers from the ankle injury he picked up before the first ODI against South Africa. BCB’s chief physician Dr Debashish Chowdhury said that the Grade 2 sprain has to be carefully treated to avoid a relapse. Given the severity of the injury, Mustafizur is likely to miss at least the first two weeks of the tournament.
After being treated in South Africa for a week, Mustafizur returned to Dhaka on October 23. He began physiotherapy, a major part of the rehabilitation process, on Wednesday.
“This is the 13th day of Mustafizur’s lateral ankle injury,” Chowdhury said. “We started physiotherapy yesterday, and he has improved quite a bit after the first day. The swelling has reduced. But despite clinical improvement, we will be careful about him since the scan report has shown that the injury is a Grade 2 sprain or moderate type of ankle strain. We will review him after two weeks, after which we will set the next course of management plan.
“We have to keep in mind that lateral ankle strain is a bad injury. If he returns to playing with proper rehabilitation, then the injury may return in the future. So we want him to recover fully, even if it means he has to miss a few BPL matches.”
Mustafizur had played only in the 2015 BPL – he had skipped the competition last year due to a shoulder injury. During this year’s draft, Rajshahi Kings picked him with the first overall pick, with hopes of strengthening their bowling attack.
Chowdhury said Mustafizur is expected to miss bowling training for at least a couple of weeks more. “It has been two weeks since he got injured. If he rests for another two weeks, it will be a month, which is a useful time for recovery.
“He has to give some time to get back to bowling training, which will depend on him. In total he will need 2-3 weeks, before which we won’t get a completely fit Mustafizur.”
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo