Africa safari over for injured Bashar

Bangladesh suffered a major blow on Sunday when skipper Habibul Bashar was ruled out of the rest of the Zimbabwe and subsequent Kenya tour due to a thumb injury. Bashar broke his left thumb during Sunday’s second one-day game while he was trying to take a catch of Zimbabwean opener Vusimuzi Sibanda off the bowling of Mashrafee bin Murtaza. Though the injury was not initially thought to be very serious, X-rays revealed a fracture in the bruised bone on Monday and he was ruled out of any further cricket for at least four weeks. The Bangladesh Cricket Board in an emergency meeting last night appointed wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud as acting captain for the rest of the tours, though no replacement was sought by the team management. The BCB, however, decided to let Bashar remain in Africa to inspire his teammates, said Mahmudur Rahman, the Board’s chief executive officer. ‘We are not going to send a replacement for him as the team management did not make request. But Bashar will remain with the team to inspire them during the tours,’ he said. It was the second time the most prolific Bangladesh batsman suffered a thumb injury as he missed the ICC Champions Trophy in England and a subsequent Test series against New Zealand at home in 2004. On that occasion the injury was sustained in the right thumb. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, who are currently locked at 1-1 in the five-match series, will play the third match tomorrow at the Harare Sports Club ground.

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