Bangladesh sweat on fitness of key duo

Bangladesh remain confident two of their leading players will be fit to face Australia next month as they recover from injuries.

Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and fast bowler Rubel Hossain are both in rehab – albeit from vastly different injuries.

The allrounder injured ligaments in his ankle last week, while Hossain required surgery aftera  bizarre incident that resulted in a cheekbone fracture.

Hossain collided with a door at the Bangladesh team's Birmingham hotel following their Champions Trophy semi-final defeat to India. It remains unclear exactly how the injury occurred.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) assistant physio Monirul Amin said the bowler was on track for the Australia Tests.

"Rubel got a fracture in his zygomatic bone (cheekbone) and it has been almost four weeks since he had an operation there," Amin told the BCB website.

"He will gradually start a lower body rehab program. After six weeks he can start full training.

"We are hopeful that he can start training after August."

Steve Smith's team is due to arrive in the country in less than a month for a two-Test series that begins on 27 August in Dhaka, pending the resolution of Australian cricket's pay dispute.

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The prognosis is better for Shakib, who could resume training by the week's end.

"Shakib injured in his left ankle on 14th of July. We call it a left ankle strain, one or two ligaments of that part got injured," Amin said.

"It's in the grade one level which is a simple injury. So we are keeping him in conservative treatment and rehab programme.

"He's already improving, the swelling is much less now.

Image Id: 2E9D6E507E864AB0AD6451444BF0AFA4 Image Caption: Bangladesh cricketers are in an intense fitness camp // BCB

"We are expecting that within next one to two days he can take part in upper body exercise, lower body cycling, working.

"He will be fully fit to resume full-phased activities (in a) maximum of 10 days."

Shakib injured himself at the Bangladesh team's fitness camp that kick-started their preparations for Australia's two-Test tour.

Allrounder Nasir Hossain, another in the huge 29-man preliminary squad Bangladesh selected for the series, said the focus on fitness and the confidence gained from the team reaching the Champions Trophy semi-finals left them well placed to face the Australians.

"The big change in our team is the confidence," Nasir said.

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"All are playing to win. No one thinks to lose regardless of the opponent," he said, adding many of the Bangladesh squad were spending extra time in the nets outside of the main practice sessions.

Meanwhile, the BCB's High Performance development squad have returned from a series of matches against a Northern Territory XI in Darwin with the tour hailed a success.

HP coach Simon Helmot, the former Melbourne Renegades head coach, hailed the tour as "excellent".

"We had some good performances and most importantly it was good learning about the players and the team," said Helmot, who took the role last June.

"We played some good cricket (and) whether we won or lost wasn't the point of the tour.

"The tour was about developing these players in unfamiliar conditions against unfamiliar opposition to make sure they are improving their skills to be good players in all formats for Bangladesh."

Australia haven't played a Test in Bangladesh since 2006 when former fast bowler and Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie scored a memorable double-century in what turned out to be his final Test.

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Each member of Australia's squad will make their Bangladesh debut and Gillespie has encouraged the tourists to embrace the unique experience.

"I'm looking forward to seeing them go out there and have a wonderful tour of Bangladesh," Gillespie told cricket.com.au.

"It's a great place to play cricket, the crowds are fanatical, the public is right behind their side and they're very respectful of other teams. (The fans) love Australian players.

"They'll have wonderful time there and really enjoy."

AUSTRALIA SQUAD: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Wade (plus one fast bowler TBC)

BANGLADESH SQUAD: (Preliminary) Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton Kumar Das, Mominul Haque, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Subhashish Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Rubel Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Sanjamul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mohammad Saifuddin, Anamul Haque, Abul Hasan Raju, Al Amin Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Muktar Ali, Tanbir Haider, Saqlain Sajib, Shafiul Islam.

FIXTURES

18 August Australia arrive

22-23 August Tour match,Fatullah

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong