Mashrafe to face off Shakib's Barishal tomorrow

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is declared fit after recovering from his back pain as Minister Group Dhaka will take on Shakib Al Hasan-led Fortune Barishal in an epic Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) clash tomorrow at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Minister Group Dhaka, a star studded team, which included the stalwarts like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad alongside Mashrafe, made a worst start to the BPL, losing first two matches in a row.

 

They didn't get Mashrafe's service in those two matches but hoped that the pace spearhead would be the catalyst to turn the fortune against Fortune Barishal who won their only match so far against Chattogram Challengers by four wickets. The right-arm pacer has passed the bowling test at the BCB Academy ground net today and the cloud of fear has passed over him.

 

Dhaka physio Enamul Haque confirmed the test, saying "Mashrafe bowled three overs at first. In the last two overs, we have seen him basically to understand whether he can play or not." Mashrafe bowled in two steps after coming to practice today. First he bowled did three overs with short run-up and then he slowly tried to bowl in a long run-up.

The physio also gave the good news, "Mashrafe bowled in a long run-up. I don't see any problem with him at the moment. His chances of playing in the third match were strong. We don't see any problem in terms of fitness also." Mashrafe suffered the back pain on January 16 when he came to practice at BCB Academy ground and warmed up for a while. Then he started bowling to Tamim Iqbal. After bowling for a while with short run-up, he tried to bowl with the long run-up.

 

The first time he was able to throw the ball with long run-up but the next two times he could not and then he lied down on the ground with pain. Mashrafe last bowled on December 18, 2020 during the Bangabandhu T20 Cup. After that he did not play in any other competitive match. He was supposed to return with the one-day version of BCL, but could not because he was not fit.