Mustafizur Rahman out of Afghanistan T20Is with cracked toe

Bangladesh will miss the services of Mustafizur Rahman, who has an injury on his left big toe, during the upcoming Twenty20 International series against Afghanistan.

The left-arm pacer picked up the injury during the Indian Premier League 2018, where he was a part of the Mumbai Indians set-up.

He returned to Bangladesh to join the national team’s training camp after Mumbai’s campaign in IPL 2018 ended before the play-offs, but wasn’t cleared to join the team after being given a couple of days off to recover.

A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) statement on Tuesday 29 May confirmed that Rahman “complained of pain” and “subsequent tests have revealed a crack on his left big toe which will sideline him for a few weeks”.

Debashis Chowdhury, the BCB senior physician, explained, “An X-ray followed by a CT scan have confirmed a hairline fracture on the big toe. It takes around three to four weeks to recover from such injuries and therefore he can’t play against Afghanistan.

“We expect him to start rehab in two weeks after which we will continue to monitor and assess him.”

Abul Hasan, the right-arm paceman who has played three Tests, seven one-day internationals and four T20Is, has replaced Rahman, who picked up seven wickets in seven outings for Mumbai in the latest edition of the IPL at an economy rate of 8.36.

The series of three T20Is will be played on 3, 5 and 7 June at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun in northern India.