Taskin begins long rehab with four-week rest

Taskin Ahmed had been suffering from a shoulder injury since Bangladesh's tour of South Africa last year and the injury flared up during the World Cup in India.  The BCB has now decided to go for conservative treatment for Taskin and give him rest for four weeks.

"Taskin's injury is a recurring one and he has been consistently feeling shoulder pain. We want to bring him under a long rehabilitation programme. We have discussed with him about not bowling for a long time," BCB's chief physician Dr. Debashish Chowdhury told the media on Thursday. 

Taskin missed World Cup matches against India and South Africa, and even in the matches he played, he was not able to bowl with full intensity. Now the BCB medical department wants to see how he fares without bowling for four weeks. The period of recuperation began following the last World Cup match against Australia in Pune on November 11.

Taskin has played through the injury but he had to take pain killers to reduce pain. Surgery was an option for the pacer but there was no guarantee of success and he had previously felt that conservative treatment was a better option. Given that he could still bowl, there was a suggestion that he might play during the tour of New Zealand. However, the current injury struggles mean that he may well be rested even for the upcoming BPL in January.

"Taskin is able to bowl, but he is having to take painkillers often and he has faced problems with bowling speed too. So we want a long-term rehabilitation process so that he can return with full fitness. We have asked him to completely put off bowling for four weeks. After four weeks, we will assess him and take the next decision.

"Our aim is that he comes back with full fitness. We will allow whatever time is necessary," Debashish said.

The current procedure suggests BCB is more careful about pacers' injuries given that Mustafizur Rahman had previously suffered from lack of form after returning from a shoulder surgery.