Thumb injury rules Rubel Hossain out of the tri-series

Bangladesh’s quick bowler Rubel Hossain has been ruled out of the Tri-series which will also feature Sri Lanka and Zimbwabe apart from the hosts. Rubel was set to get in the playing XI of the side for the first game against Zimbabwe on 15th January.

Hossain during the practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka injured his left thumb. He went through the x-ray and the results suggest that the 28-year-old might miss the tri-series. The pacer debuted for Bangladesh in the year 2009 where he represented the side in all the three formats. He has picked up 33 Test wickets in 25 games while in the ODIs he has better numbers to his name as he has picked 98 wickets in his career. In the shortest format of the game, Rubel has 15 wickets to his name.

Physio’s take

Dr. Debashish Chowdhury, Bangladesh cricket team’s chief physician said that Rubel hurt his left-hand thumb during the practice season. He will now undergo another session with the doctors where they will confirm if he has picked up any fracture on his thumb and if that is the case, the star bowler might have to be away from the game for a longer period.

Chowdhury clarified that since Hossain has sustained the injury on his left hand, he will still be able to contribute to the team’s cause with the bat if the need be. But it will be pretty tricky if the right-hander has to come and bat at a crucial juncture in a game and hence the management had decided to rule him out.

Bangladesh currently ranks number 7 in the ICC ODI rankings. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan board have once again opted to give to captaincy to Angelo Matthews. Sri Lanka had disastrous last year and as a result, they are placed below Bangladesh in the ODI rankings. The third participating team in the series Zimbabwe is at number 10.