Tamim Iqbal suffers a pull in the warm-up match against South Africa XI

In the three-day practice match against South Africa XI at Benoni, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal pulled a thigh muscle. The left-hander was on five when he left the field retired hurt in the fifth over of the opening day. According to the chief selector Minhajul Abedin, the top order batsman strained his upper right thigh muscle while opening the innings with Soumya Sarkar in the lone practice game ahead of the first Test against South Africa.

He will be under observation for 48 hours and will not take further part in the warm-up game. Tamim was particularly influential in the first Test win over Australia in Dhaka last month where his scores of 71 and 78 helped set up a famous victory. He is an important cog in the team if they have to make any impact against the Proteas in their den.

Bangladesh crash

Meanwhile, Bangladesh suffered a stunning collapse after a solid 119-run stand for the third wicket between Mominul Haque (68) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (63). They lost four wickets for nine runs after Mominul was dismissed with the score reading at 211/2.

Earlier, after winning the toss Bangladesh got off to a decent start despite suffering the Tamim blow. Soumya (43) and Imrul Kayes (34) added 73 runs after Tamim’s departure. But both fell in quick succession before lunch.

Mahmudullah scored a golden duck while wicketkeeper Liton Das survived only three deliveries before becoming the sixth batsman to walk back, as he was out for naught in the 49.2 overs. The umpires called for tea after his dismissal. Sabbir Rahman with 4 will resume the innings with Mehadi Hasan after the break.

The hero of the Dhaka Test, Shakib Al Hasan, is absent from the Tigers’ outfit for the South Africa Test- series and captain Mushfiqur Rahim admitted that he would be hard to replace. But it is an opportunity for those who are filling in for him in the side to show their mettle in foreign conditions. Mushfiqur and the boys will be hoping to adapt to the conditions during the warm-up match against the South Africa XI.