Bangladesh national team physio Bayzidul Islam asked Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad to handle paceman Mustafizur Rahman carefully considering his injury history.
Bayzid said he is in constant touch with Hyderabad physio Theo Kapakoulakis over the fitness status of Mustafiz, who has just recovered from a side injury and is yet to complete his recovery process.
‘Whenever our players go aboard to play in foreign league we maintain certain communication with their respective team,’ Bayzid told New Age on Thursday. ‘It’s a usual process, but this time we are extra careful about Mustafiz because he has just recovered from two serious injuries.’
Mustafiz troubled his bowling shoulder during home series against Zimbabwe in November and missed the last two Twenty20 internationals and Bangladesh lost both of them.
He returned to the action during the Asia Cup but sustained a side injury to be ruled out in the middle of the competition. He also missed all three qualifiers in the ICC World Twenty20 and the first Super10s match against Pakistan before returning to the action against Australia.
He proved his worth immediately by picking nine wickets in three matches, including tournament’s best 5-22 against New Zealand at Eden Gardens.
He left home earlier on this week to play for Hyderabad, who secured his service for 1.4 core rupees after a bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Bayzid said he has some general concern over Mustafiz’s fitness as he could not complete the recovery process.
‘At the moment I don’t have any concern with his bowling,’ said Tigers’ physio. ‘But there are some issues with his throwing. He can throw form 50 yards, but he cannot throw from boundary ropes.
‘He should be able to do this after few more days. But for that he needed to be handled carefully. The amount of workload we give him here it should not be exceeded anyway,’
Bayzid said he sent out the details of Mustafiz’s fitness status to Hyderabad through email.
Mustafiz will work with former Pakistani bowler Waqar Yunus, who has been appointed as Hyderabad coach.
The cash-rich IPL will start on April 9 with Hyderabad playing their first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore on April 12.
Sakib al Hasan, who will play for Kolkata Knight Riders, is the other Bangladeshi player to feature in this year’s IPL.
-With New Age input
