Nahid, Taskin to undergo medical assessments in Australia

Bangladesh pacers Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed will fly to Australia on Tuesday night (July 28) for medical assessments. A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official confirmed the development, adding that the duo will be accompanied by national team physio Bayjedul Islam.

Nahid has already been ruled out of the Australia tour after sustaining a left-side strain during the second T20I against Zimbabwe earlier this month. However, it is understood that his trip is primarily related to a long-standing shinbone issue rather than the side strain.

"Nahid Rana from his early days is suffering with shinbone pain in his two legs and he is playing by managing it. We earlier planned that if we travel to Australia or England we would assess his shinbone issues by sitting with a lower-limb specialist," a BCB official confirmed.

"As part of that plan he is travelling to Australia to sit with a shinbone specialist but he is not travelling there for side-strain issues because his shinbone pain is a chronic injury," he said.

The official also clarified the purpose of Taskin's visit. Although the fast bowler was named in Bangladesh's squad for the opening Test of the two-match series, he is travelling to Australia not because of a shoulder injury but to seek further assessment of his recurring ankle problem.

"Taskin is visiting for his ankle issue that he sustained earlier at different points of his career and we want to have a third opinion regarding its status," he said.

BCB chief selector Habibul Bashar had said on Monday that it was "challenging" to finalise Bangladesh's 15-member squad for the Australia tour as the list of injured players continued to grow in recent weeks.

While Nahid has been ruled out of the tour, fellow pacer Shoriful Islam will miss the opening Test as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. Wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das will also sit out the first Test because of a calf injury.

"We actually wanted to announce the squad almost weeks ago," Habibul said on Monday after the historic Australia tour squad was announced on Sunday.

"We have separate squads for the three formats - T20Is, ODIs and Tests. The Test side is probably our most settled team. They have been playing well over the last few series, and we were all very excited about this series. Not only because we are returning to Australia after a long time, but also because Australia is such a strong side in their own conditions. We felt our team was in exactly the kind of shape and preparation needed to compete against them," said Habibul.

"From there, when the setbacks came - especially due to injuries - it became really challenging. We had to wait until the very last moment. We kept waiting until the end, and as you all know, we had to go through a lot of different processes. We were hoping that, even if some of our key players could not play both Tests, they might at least be available for one. But in sport, you do not always have everyone available. The plans you make before a tour do not always work out the way you expect," he added.

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