Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza is likely to play in the side’s 2019 ICC World Cup campaign opener against South Africa on Sunday despite carrying a hamstring injury.
The veteran seamer picked up the injury in Bangladesh’s warm-up game defeat to India at Cardiff on Tuesday but remains determined to take the field against South Africa according to a report by ESPNcricinfo.
The 35-year-old sustained the hamstring injury while trying to bowl an extended spell to India’s top-order batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“A lot of times in such cases, I face trouble bowling the first one or two overs. Once I get through that, I don’t face any more problems. I also wasn’t facing any problems,” Mortaza had told bdnews24 after Bangladesh’s 95-run defeat to India.
“But I pulled a hamstring during the sixth over. I could have stopped after four or five overs but Rohit and Kohli were looking to score runs quickly during that period.
Mortaza picked up the injury during the warm-up game against India.
“I felt that I needed to practice bowling in such a situation.”
The skipper is not the only Bangladesh player currently carrying a knock with all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and opener Tamim Iqbal recently recovering from side strains. While Tamim did not feature in the clash against India, Shakib did but the star player had a poor outing with both bat and ball on his return from injury.
“Shakib had an off day but he has the experience to come back in a great way,” Mortaza said on the all-rounder’s form.
“I think he will do something big in this World Cup.”