Injury woes plague Tigers in yet another WC

Bangladesh are not only struggling with batters' form but are concerned over key pacers' availability before their opening T20 World Cup game against Sri Lanka on June 8.

It has been another instance of injury troubles for Bangladesh's pace battery in a major event, a unit which has promised so much over the past few years. Taskin Ahmed had been carrying an injury since the tour of South Africa in 2022 -- where he rattled the Proteas in Bangladesh's ODI series win against the hosts. The injury resurfaced during the 2023 World Cup in India as Bangladesh's pace attack failed to have the impact they were expected to make.

This time, Bangladesh went to the United States with Taskin still in rehabilitation, following an injury in his rib area suffered during the home series against Zimbabwe. The team management wants Taskin to play the opening match following an assessment on June 5. The pacer went through the grind in an indoor session on Monday, trying to get back his rhythm.

While Bangladesh Cricket Board's medical department were hopeful of Taskin's recovery when talking to The Daily Star earlier last month, there may be a risk involved in Taskin pushing himself too far. Fellow quick Shoriful Islam, meanwhile, is unlikely to play the Sri Lanka fixture after having injured his bowling hand during the warm-up fixture against India on June 1 and needed six stitches afterwards.

Bangladesh's batting has already been under fire in recent series, and with the most promising among the three departments in the Tigers' dugout still in doubt for World Cup games, the backup options would also be kept ready. Bar Hasan Mahmud, there are no other options for the recovering speedsters.

Given Bangladesh's first two World Cup matches are against Sri Lanka and South Africa, failure to win any of those two affairs can make or break their tournament, leading to certain elimination from the first round.

Meanwhile, criticism of wickets and grounds in the USA has been a big talking point among experts. Whereas Canada and the USA played out a high-scoring game in Dallas, the venue for Bangladesh's first game, Sri Lanka were thumped by South Africa in New York where the ground was inadequately prepared and the wicket made for a low-scoring affair. Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle went as far as saying that cricket will not gain ground in the USA, with playing surfaces and outfields of that quality.

There are plenty of questions for the tournament organisers to answer in this regard. However, with wickets unlikely to alter in the next few days, Bangladesh are faced with multiple hurdles as they seek to regain lost confidence.