The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday said that they are not willing to take any risk with paceman Mustafizur Rahman and ready to put him under the knife as they expect long-term service from him. Mustafiz will have a second MRI as the first one found fluid in his shoulder that prevented shoulder specialist Tony Kocchar from taking any decision during their first meeting on Tuesday.
A decision regarding his immediate future is hanging in the balance as BCB officials are unable to predict the gravity of his injury but they hinted they are willing to sacrifice him for short term to reap long-term benefit.
‘We must understand he is our prized bowler and we are not going to take any risk with him,’ BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus told reporters on Wednesday.
‘He has a long future ahead and we must take a decision whether to treat him totally at the moment or take chance of losing him after one or two series,’ said Jalal.
‘We are not willing to take any risk as there are examples of players playing with injection in such cases but we have decided not to go in this line thinking of his value,’ he said.
Mustafiz is unlikely to play any further part for British county team Sussex this season after the diagnosis.
He aggravated an old shoulder injury during his short stint with Sussex in the ongoing NatWest Twenty20 competition, playing two matches before being sidelined.
Sussex rested the pacer from Royal London Cup matches against Gloucestershire and Hampshire but were hoping he would be fit enough to return for Today’s clash with Glamorgan.
The county side on Wednesday through a statement in its website confirmed that the player was ruled out of their remaining group matches of both the competitions.
‘Sussex have announced that Bangladeshi left-armer Mustafizur Rahman will unfortunately play no part in the Sharks’ upcoming NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup group matches,’ said the statement.
‘Under the direction of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, (he) is due to have a scan this week to ascertain whether or not he will be fit enough to play in any knockout matches should Sussex qualify for the latter stages of either competition,’ it added.
However, Jalal said his chance of playing any matches for the county side looked very bleak.
Bangladesh national team physio Baizidul Islam earlier on Tuesday said the initial MRI report had detected a Superior Labrum, Anterior to Posterior tear in Mustafiz’s shoulder.
‘Usually it requires surgery for complete recovery. But players can continue playing with painkillers,’ he said.
Bangladesh cricketers Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain have suffered similar injuries in the past but continued to play without surgery.
But Jalal said that because Mustafiz is a bowler, the board will not take any risks.
Mustafiz’s stint with Sussex was delayed twice over concerns that he may be burnt out and due to visa complications.
He finally joined the county side on July 21, making an instant impact with 4-23 against Essex in his debut match in the NatWest T20 Blast tournament.
However, he went wicket-less against Surrey in his second match.
Sussex hinted they might hire the paceman for future seasons.
‘Mustafizur himself has nothing but praise for Head Coach Mark Davis, Captain Luke Wright and his team-mates, and it is hoped that there is a possibility of him returning to Hove in the future,’ said the county.
‘Sussex Cricket would like to wish Mustafizur all the best for the future and we wish him a speedy recovery from his injury.’
-With New Age input
