Former Bangladesh cricketer Nafees Iqbal suffers brain haemorrhage

Former Bangladesh batter and Tamim Iqbal’s brother, Nafees Iqbal, is being kept under observation at the Dhaka Hospital after he suffered a brain haemorrhage. He suffered the condition on Friday, July 5 in Chattogram, and was brought to Dhaka in an air ambulance in the afternoon, where he is now in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

Nafees had worked as Bangladesh’s logistics manager in the T20 World Cup and had been complaining of a headache for the last few days. He returned to Bangladesh with the rest of the team recently. 

The BCB’s (Bangladesh Cricket Board) chief physician, Debashis Chowdhury, came forward to break the news of Nafees’ illness, stating that he is out of danger and it will take him a few weeks to recover fully.

"Specialists have informed us that Nafees is suffering from something called cerebral venous thrombosis, He has blood clots in that part of his brain. He is now stable. His parameters are good. He will be here for a few more days. They have said that if it doesn't get worse, he will make full recovery. He has to be observed closely on the first day. He might be shifted to a ward soon, but these things take a few weeks," Debashis Chowdhury was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

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It is worth noting that the likes of Jalal Yunus (BCB director), chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, and several players like Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mashrafe Mortaza visited Iqbal at the Dhaka hospital. Iqbal is also the nephew of Akram Khan, the former Bangladesh captain and current BCB director.

Having worked as Bangladesh’s team manager for the last two years, the former batter played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs between 2003 and 2006, with most of his appearances coming in first-class cricket, having played 120 matches for Chattogram.