Summary Mustafizur Rahman will travel to Birmingham for rehabilitation after being ruled out of Zimbabwe tour.
HARARE (Web Desk) - Bangladesh quick Mustafizur Rahman has been ruled out for four weeks due to a grade 1 muscle tear in his right hamstring and a meniscal degeneration in his right knee. He will miss the remainder of Bangladesh's ongoing tour of Zimbabwe.
Mustafizur will travel to Birmingham next week to link up with Birmingham Phoenix for the Hundred, having been signed for £100,000 in March's auction. His injuries leave his participation in the Hundred - which runs from July 21 to August 16 - in significant doubt, but the franchise's performance director James Thomas said that they remain "hopeful" he will recover in time.
"Having discussed Mustafizur's injuries with him and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, it has been agreed that he will travel to Birmingham as planned next week to be assessed by our medical department, after which we can determine whether he will be able to play any part in The Hundred this year," Thomas said in a statement on Friday evening.
"We are hopeful than Mustafizur will be able to represent Birmingham Phoenix this year, but will make sure we have plans in place for all possible outcomes of our assessment. Until then, we wish Mustafizur all the best in his recovery and we will continue to work closely with the Bangladesh Cricket Board to ensure we are joined up in our approach to further assess the injury and plan appropriate return to play protocols."
Mustafizur complained of pain while bowling during the first ODI against Zimbabwe on Monday, and underwent scans on Tuesday that revealed the extent of the injury.
During the first ODI against Zimbabwe, which Bangladesh lost by 25 runs, Mustafizur bowled six overs for 19 runs and also batted at No. 10 in Bangladesh's chase of 142. He missed the second ODI on Thursday, and was replaced by fellow left-arm fast bowler Shoriful Islam. Mustafizur will play no part in the remainder of the tour, which also includes a three-match T20I series, and has returned home for rehab.
Mustafizur had been nursing a knee injury earlier this year as well, after he returned from the PSL for Bangladesh's ODI series against New Zealand in April. The injury forced him to miss the first two ODIs before he returned to take a five-for in the third, with the BCB withdrawing his no-objection certificate for the remainder of the PSL.
After Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe ends on July 19, they are set to tour Australia for two Tests from August 13, with both matches part of the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.
