Bangladesh national cricket team chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said that they would not make any changes in their ICC T20 World Cup squad after injured pacer Taskin Ahmed was expected to be fit for the Tigers opening match of the tournament against Sri Lanka on June 8.
The ninth edition of the global event is scheduled to be held in the USA and the West Indies from June 1 to 29.
Taskin sustained the injury during the fourth T20I of the recently finished Zimbabwe series, leaving him with an undisplaced fracture on the right side of his rib cage.
His injury had been a big talking point ahead of the announcement of Bangladesh鈥檚 T20 World Cup squad. Speculations grew before he was eventually included in the 15-man squad, but there were doubts regarding his availability for the Tigers鈥� initial games.
Paceman Hasan Mahmud, who was included in the squad for the ongoing three-match T20I series against the USA, was also included as a reserve player in case Taskin was unable to recover.
However, on Friday, the BCB Medical Unit received an MRI report on Taskin, which revealed that the speedster鈥檚 injury is expected to be healed before Bangladesh鈥檚 first encounter in the competition.
鈥楾askin has had another MRI [on Friday]. He is progressing at a better pace than expected. He will undergo another scan on the 30th or 31st. Then maybe he will start bowling on June 1. But from now on, he will start training. It is expected that Taskin will be able to bowl in full run-up on June 5,鈥� Gazi Ashraf told reporters in Mirpur on Saturday.
According to ICC guidelines, participating nations were allowed to make changes to their squads before May 24. However, if any of the teams wish to substitute a player during the competition, they must obtain approval from the ICC technical committee.
鈥業t was basically a matter of formality. Every team was given the chance to gain an additional advantage. In that case, we got time until 11:59pm Dubai time on the 24th,鈥� he said.
鈥楢s per the protocol, we have discussed with the selectors, captain, and coach, and we have kept the same team that we announced before. Taskin also remained in the squad. 鈥�
He also added that with the forthcoming global event in mind, they would prepare a couple of players during the Bangladesh Tigers camp set to commence at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today so that they can replace them in case any injury occurs during the marquee competition.
鈥楴o one is attending training sessions right now. The training camp of the Bangladesh Tigers is set to begin, and we will be preparing a couple of players for white ball so that we can replace them in any crisis.
