Physiotherapist Bayjedul Islam has been the hero behind the scenes for the Tigers. Despite the hectic year, Bayjedul's management not only ensured that there were no crucial injuries in the team, but also kept the players on top of their fitness levels. Photo: Star file

Many had their share of inputs behind the Tigers' recent dream run, especially in the limited-overs version of the game under the magnificent leadership of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

The brave-heart from Narail transformed all those inputs of the back-room staff not only to win four consecutive home series and a dream quarterfinal berth in the World Cup but also presented the world a new Bangladesh during a spectacular ten months journey.

And a fit Mashrafe for such a long time most probably was the biggest surprise for the nation. With both his knees operated on more than once and injury becoming synonymous with Mashrafe not many would have thought that the talented pace bowler, who made his international debut against Zimbabwe in Dhaka in 2001, would sustain such for such a long period of time.

Lot of stories have already been told about the heroes of this success but there are some unsung heroes as well. And one of them is our own national team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan, who along with the other members of the coaching staff played a big role behind the scene to make sure that the fitness issue and the mental fatigue did not hinder the progress of the team.

The baby-faced Bayjedul, who took over the demanding job in November last year after the departure of South African Vibhav Singh, now looks as confident as the other members of the team after ensuring an eye-catching show in terms of the players fitness levels. 

“Initially they (players) were doubtful about whether I would be able to handle the pressure as a local physio but they gradually got the confidence,” said Bayjedul while talking to The Daily Star over phone last night.

“I have no doubt about my ability. The two-year study at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology gave me a lot of confidence and I was just waiting for a chance and thankfully BCB kept faith in me.  “When I took over the charge, my biggest challenge was to keep Mashrafe fit. He was a player who could sustain hardly three matches. So, it was a big challenge to make sure he could play five matches in eleven days against Zimbabwe. My biggest advantage was that I was involved in his rehab programme after his last injury in 2011,” continued Bayjedul, who has been associated with the BCB since 2006 after completing his study at Bangladesh Health Professions Institute.

“We made a special protective plan for him. For example, the night before the match I had a one and a half hour session with him so that he could feel comfortable on the match day. I can still remember how scared I really was before the fourth match against Zimbabwe but our plan really worked well. He also made things easier for me because he was very much careful and sincere about his fitness duty,” he added.

Bayjedul thanked some senior players for making his job easy.

“When I started some senior players made sure that everybody treated me like they treat a foreign physio. Everybody followed the schedule I set for them. As a physio now I'm really happy to see that nobody wants to lose his place in the team on fitness grounds and everybody acts professionally.”

“What our trainer and I always try is to make sure that the sessions are not boring for the players. We always try something different so that players can enjoy it and we are getting the results. I make specific plans in three categories for every player in line with my knowledge from the Norwegian institute and the players so far responded very well. To me the most important thing is the follow-up,” said a happy Bayjedul, who had the experience of working with most of the national team players during their academy and age level stints.