Thumb injury rules out Tamim Iqbal from NZ tour
Tamim Iqbal (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal will miss the Tigers’ two-match Test series against New Zealand owing to a thumb injury. Tamim picked up the injury while playing in the Everest Premier League and the same forced him to miss the 20-20 World Cup and the ongoing series against Pakistan.
The southpaw was hopeful of recovering before the New Zealand tour but the thumb hasn’t healed as per expectations. After consulting with the doctors, Tamim opted out of the tour. The swashbuckling batsman will now have to wait till February, when Bangladesh play against Afghanistan, to make a comeback.
“He (Tamim) met the physician and they have advised him to take a one-month rest though he won’t require any surgery,” Debashish told Cricbuzz. “In that case, he’s missing the New Zealand tour.”‘
Bangladesh are set to play two Tests in New Zealand. The matches will be part of the Test Championship. The first Test will be played from January 1st at Bay Oval in Tauranga, while the second game will be played in Christchurch from January 9.
Coming back to Tamim, he has been out of action since the Zimbabwe tour earlier this year. He picked up a knee injury on the tour and missed the home series against Australia and New Zealand. He recovered and participated in the Everest Premier League where he picked up another injury, this time on the thumb.
“The fracture had almost healed but my thumb remained swollen,” Tamim said. “So we wanted to have another X-ray, which revealed that there was a fracture. Probably there were two, but it didn’t come out in the first scan. The finger has gone back into the split. I can’t move it. The whole process has to start again.”
