Fizz's prep in doubt

With just over a month left before the World Cup, the Bangladesh cricket team's injury list just grew longer as the nation's ace left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman suffered an injury to his left ankle during practice on Wednesday with his Dhaka Premier League (DPL) side Shinepukur Cricket Club. The injury is set to sideline him for two weeks.

Mustafizur becomes the latest name on the injured players' list with the likes of Mahmudullah Riyad, Rubel Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin already undergoing recovery periods for their respective injuries.

Before playing for Shinepukur this season, Mustafizur last played the DPL in December 27, 2014. His injury is set to hamper his World Cup preparations with the Tigers heading to Ireland on April 27 to play a tri-nation series with the hosts and New Zealand.

Mustafizur underwent an X-ray yesterday and his fitness will be reviewed two weeks later. "The X-rays did not reveal anything serious. He will rest partially with little exercise in between and his condition will be reassessed two weeks from now," said Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief physician Dr. Debashish Chowdhury.

"There is no fracture-related injury here. There is some pain in the ligament -- a lateral ankle sprain. He had suffered this kind of sprain before but predictions regarding these injuries are difficult," he added.

Bangladesh will be involved in a training camp -- tentatively to start from April 22 -- to kick off their preparations for the World Cup and the tri-nation series. The left-arm quick may not be fully fit when the camp starts.

"When the camp will begin, he will be in the rehabilitation process. When we review his condition after two weeks, we will be able to say if he can participate in the skills training," Debashish concluded.