Mushfiqur Rahim suffers hairline fracture ahead of tour of Zimbabwe

Mushfiqur Rahim has picked up a hairline fracture on his left index finger, which he sustained during Abahani Limited's Dhaka Premier League T20 match against Gazi Group Cricketers on Monday. The scan took place on Tuesday morning, confirming the extent of the injury, which might hurt the Bangladesh national team too, as they get ready for a tour of Zimbabwe.

"We did a CT scan on Mushfiq's hand, which has come up with a hairline fracture on his left index finger," Dr Debashish Chowdhury, BCB's chief physician, said. "We have asked him to take a break of one week, but we are hopeful that the recovery won't take too long. Since it is a hairline fracture. We will review the injury after one week, and then we can determine what to do next."

Bangladesh are scheduled to leave for Zimbabwe on June 29 to play a one-off Test, three ODIs and three T20Is. There is, however, some uncertainty around the tour after authorities in Zimbabwe stopped sporting activities in the country last week because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bangladesh authorities have expressed confidence, though, that the tour would go ahead on schedule, with BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury saying that the board has received positive feedback from Zimbabwe Cricket.

Rahim has led Abahani Limited to to the Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier League - they are currently equal on top of the points table on 20 points with Prime Bank Cricket Club. He has been in decent batting form too, having scored 267 runs in 12 innings, with an average of 38.14 and a strike rate of 130.24. They have three more matches to play, so Rahim's absence could affect their chances.

Rahim had earlier informed the BCB that he would be unavailable for the T20I leg of the tour of Zimbabwe, as Bangladesh start a long build-up for the T20 World Cup in October. He has been involved in all formats for Bangladesh since October last year when the BCB held two white-ball tournaments to kick off cricket after the pandemic.