The Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz appears unlikely to start the opening ODI against Ireland on Saturday (March 18).
It is believed that Mehidy suffered a blow to his forehead and eyes during the team’s training session at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Although the initial scans showed nothing serious, Mehidy’s subsequent visit to the eye specialist revealed a blood clot, which ruled him out of the first ODI.
“He is under observation and let’s see what happens because there is some blood clot in his eye and it is red,” said a BCB official to Cricbuzz.
“He is under observation and unless he feels well chances of his participation is very slim and we are making our plans accordingly though you never know he just might get completely okay after a good night sleep but if that is not the case he is unlikely to play in the series opener,” he said adding that as he has sustained injuries in his eyes tea management are not very keen to take any chances even if there is slightest bit of risk involved.”
While Tamim Iqbal appears to be doing well, Chandika Hathurusingha declined to provide an update on the veteran’s condition.
“There’s a little bit of a concern with his (Tamim) health. Not fitness. I think he has some kind of a viral infection. He will bat and field today. We will make the call afterwards,” Head Coach Hathurusingha told reporters at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
He praised opener Rony Talukdar for his impressive comeback in the recently concluded T20I series against England. The 32-year-old was back in the mix after an eight-year absence, and Hathurusingha particularly liked his intent.
“He impressed me helluva lot,” said Hathurusingha. “In the first T20, his start gave us a lot of momentum. The coaching staff was impressed with his body language. Talking about characters, those are the things that I am looking at, lot more than runs and wickets. We know it can go up and down, but if the players show good character and strong will to perform the way they did in domestic cricket, that’s all we want.”
Hathurusingha and the senior players went over the 22 yard pitch for the first ODI and liked what they saw. In Bangladesh, pitches are usually slow with a lot of spinner support. Hathurusingha expects more of the same in Sylhet after the recent white-ball series against England was a breath of fresh air in that regard with a better balance between batsmen and balls.
