Knee injury rules Tamim Iqbal out of action for two months

Bangladesh received a big jolt ahead of their upcoming T20I series against Australia, as their star opening batter Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out for close to two months due to a knee injury. Apart from the Australia series, Iqbal will also not take part in the subsequent limited-overs series against New Zealand.

Advertisment

Iqbal, who suffered the injury in the month of April in Sri Lanka, recovered well but again faced some issues during the T20 Dhaka Premier League which ruled him out for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe.

The southpaw is one of the most experienced players in the Bangladesh lineup and his presence at the top order always helps the team in getting good starts upfront. While his absence will not be missed so much against Zimbabwe, against quality teams like Australia and New Zealand, the southpaw’s absence can have an impact on the team’s performances.

Confirming the news, Minhajul Abedin Bangladesh’s chief selector said, "Tamim will return home alongside Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam from the ODI side." 

Advertisment

 "Tamim has been advised to rest for six to eight weeks. He won't be able to play against Australia and New Zealand at home, but he might play against England . We have asked Rubel (Hossain), (Mohammad) Mithun, and Mosaddek (Hossan) to stay back with the T20I side as part of our contingency plan for the Australia series,” said Abedin to ESPN Cricinfo.

“We have to keep players in quarantine for ten days ahead of the Australia series bio-bubble. We want to have as many options as possible as we won’t be able to call up players from outside the bio-bubble,” he added.

Tamim missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe but was in line to play the full limited overs series. However, he pulled out of the T20I series when a famous orthopedic surgeon from Australia advised him to do so.