Shakib back for Windies Tests

Ending all speculation and controversies about his finger injury, Bangladesh Test captain Shakib Al Hasan is all set to return to action after selectors included him in the 13-member Test squad for the first Test against the West Indies.

The match will be held in Chattogram from November 22.

There was a lot of confusion about the gravity of his injury as he was forced to return home from the UAE midway through the Asia Cup in September.

However, Shakib returned from Australia last month following treatment with a big smile and had then informed that he expected to be back on the field within three months. He added that he wanted to test whether cricketing activities would cause pain to the finger that he had initially injured in January this year.

The controversy had mainly surrounded a possible surgery, but the 31-year-old informed after his return from Australia that there was no possibility of undergoing the knife over the next six to 12 months, adding that the best outcome would be to be able to play without surgery. He also stated that the injured finger would never be a hundred per cent again, but it was nothing that would stop him playing cricket.

Shakib returned to training earlier this week after a month-long rehabilitation programme and started batting last Wednesday. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin informed yesterday that the all-rounder was fit.

Although opener Tamim Iqbal is yet to recover from his injury, Minhajul added that the left-hander has a chance of being available for the second Test against the West Indies, to be held in Mirpur from November 30.

Soumya Sarkar and 17-year-old off-spinner Nayeem Hasan were the other inclusions in the Test squad, which was trimmed to 13 players from the 15-member squad that had been named against Zimbabwe. Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain, Abu Jayed, Shafiul Islam and Nazmul Islam were all dropped.