Bashar's injury now dilemma for Bangladesh board

Habibul Bashar missed the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2004 due to an injury to his right thumb. Injury to his left, this time, might see him out of the tournament to be played in India beginning October 7 © AFP

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is faced with a quandary ahead of picking their 14-member squad for the Champions Trophy with Habibul Bashar's fitness status not yet confirmed. Bashar, their captain, has said he can confirm his fitness status only a week after the ICC deadline of September 7 for submitting the squads.

It is possible that Bashar will be included in the squad and later replaced if he fails his fitness test. "As far as I know, one can only replace an injured player from the 30-member probables but we are still not clear about the rules," Mahbubul Anam, the board general secretary told the The Daily Star, a Dhaka-based daily. "That's why we have to go through the ICC laws first about the matter then we will discuss with the selectors,"

Bashar fractured his left thumb during the second one-day match against Zimbabwe in July. He missed the last Champions Trophy in England in 2004 because of a fracture to his right thumb. Mahbub said that the Bangladesh board might ask the ICC to look at Bashar's case as a special consideration.

But Faruque Ahmed, the chief selector, was confident that Bashar would recover in time for the tournament. "Yes, you can say it is a little bit of a dilemma for the board as well as the selectors because we have to pick the final team by September 7 while we can know the exact position of Bashar only a week later. But I am not too bothered with the situation as Bashar is recovering well and his injury is also not a serious one."

Though Faruque himself supported Bashar's inclusion in the squad, he said that the final decision would be taken only after the selection panel had discussed it. "I don't know the details of the ICC rules about the matter but I don't think there is any rigid law," he added. Bangladesh are scheduled to play West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the qualifying round of the Champions Trophy beginning October 7. If they finish in the top two, they will advance to the next round of the tournament to play the six top-seeded teams.