Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan said yesterday that Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan should not return to cricket unless he has fully recovered from a left little finger injury and that it is not absolutely important for him to feature in the third Test in New Zealand from February 16. Hassan also revealed, speaking after the Dhaka Premier League T20 final, that Shakib could be in New Zealand ahead of the third Test.

Shakib missed the ODI series and the first Test in New Zealand because of the injury sustained in the Bangladesh Premier League final on February 8. Hassan also gave a positive update about Mushfiqur Rahim, who missed the first Test because of finger and wrist injuries sustained during the ODI series. According to the BCB boss, Mushfiqur said that he was feeling okay and wanted to play the second Test from March 8.

"Shakib said that he would go to play the third Test. Before I left for an ICC board meeting in Dubai, he said that he was eager to play in this league [DPL T20] to get some match practice before leaving. I thought that if he can play in this league then he could play the second Test. But if not, his health is important. I heard he underwent a test yesterday and was prescribed a further seven days' rest. I don't think it's absolutely necessary for him to play the third Test because the World Cup is coming. We want him to recover fully before returning."