Mustafizur forbidden from playing in T20 leagues

DHAKA: Injury-prone Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman will not be allowed to participate in overseas domestic T20 tournaments for the next two years, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said on Friday.

Nazmul voiced his opinion when his attention was drawn towards the ongoing series against West Indies in the Caribbean and the areas of immediate improvement for the team that was blown away two-nil in the Tests.

Mustafizur missed the series against Afghanistan and Test series against West Indies after picking up a toe injury while playing for Mumbai Indians in the 2018 edition of Indian Premier League.

‘’I have told him that he will not be available abroad [for franchise based tournaments] for the next two years,’’ Nazmul said on Friday. ‘’It cannot go on like this. He will pick up injuries while playing in the franchise league and won’t be available to perform national duty. It’s just not acceptable. It cannot go on that he will be undergoing rehabilitation to recover from injuries under the care of the board, join those leagues again only to have a similar fortune,’’ he said. Injuries have continued to haunt the young bowler since he picked up the shoulder strain in England in 2016 early into his career while playing in the Twenty20 blast. In 2017, he sustained a grade-two lateral ankle injury while warming up with a football drill on the tour of South Africa, an injury that caused him to miss the start of BPL 2017. During his latest injury-forced absence, Bangladesh were swept 3-0 by Afghanistan in a T20I series in Dehradun and later thrashed by Windies in the two Tests in the Caribbean.