BPL 2019-20: Injury-prone Mashrafe Mortaza doubtful for initial phase of the tournament

Mashrafe Mortaza, one of Bangladesh’s long-serving captains has been out of the game following his team’s disappointing campaign at the ICC World Cup in England. The 36-year-old bowler is set for a return to cricket in the upcoming Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) but his injury-prone record has put a question mark over it as well. Mashrafe did not get any team at the players’ draft for four rounds before landing with Dhaka Platoon, the team he has captained in the past and will lead this season again.

Mashrafe, who took a solitary wicket in eight games at the World Cup, is trying hard to recover from injury but not being able to give ample time to his rehab process, Cricfrenzy cited Bangladesh Cricket Board physio Debashish Chowdhury as saying.

“We are hoping he will get well soon. By the time he got hurt and the time he has to recover he can hopefully recover. But here he will have to play a major role in his rehabilitation process. The more time he can give it will be much easier for him,” Chowdhury said.

‘Mashrafe Mortaza trying his best’

“Mashrafe is trying his best to continue his rehab program. Today, he has also done physiotherapy and gym sessions. However, he was not able to give time for his rehab the way we want. His pain has been decreasing since before but it has not been fully recovered. If he could spend a little time outside of busy time, he would have recovered a little faster,” he added.

Mashrafe, who made his international debut in 2001, has played 36 Tests, 217 ODIs and 54 T20Is in which he has claimed 386 wickets. He has over 400 wickets in List A games and 138 in T20s. As captain, Mashrafe had done the best for Bangladesh in the ODIs with 47 wins out of 85 games at a success percentage of 56.62. He has also led Bangladesh in 28 T20Is but could win only 10 and lost 17 while one ended without any result.

The special edition of the BPL this year to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh’s national father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will kick off on December 11 and continue till January 17.

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