World Cup 2019: Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal doubtful for match against South Africa

What's the story?

The most reliable batsman of the Bangladeshi team, Tamim Iqbal has suffered a major injury scare ahead of Bangladesh's first match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Tamim injured his left wrist during the practice sessions before the team’s first match of the tournament. The board has not confirmed his non-participation in their opening match against South Africa but given that this is a long tourney, they might not want to risk Iqbal.

The background

ICC had organised the warm-up matches for every team before the start of ICC Cricket World 2019 to give them enough practice. All the nations came to England a few days prior to the World Cup to get settled in the English conditions. Led by their experienced captain Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladeshi side also had arrived early and started their practice sessions with very high hopes of winning the World Cup. Unfortunately, their prime opener, Tamim Iqbal did not have the luck on his side as he injured his left wrist during the training sessions.

The heart of the matter

According to the reports of Bangladeshi Cricket Board, Tamim had immediate X-rays and took precautionary measures as the injury seemed to be quite serious. However, the reports confirmed that there wasn’t any fracture which came as a light of hope for the whole Bangladeshi fans. Tamim even missed the warm-up match against India due to heavy pain in his thigh muscle. Apart from Tamim, the other players of the team namely Mahmudullah and Saifuddin are also having minor injury issues but their injuries are not so serious as Tamim Iqbal's.

What's next?

Bangladesh will play their first match of World Cup 2019 against South Africa on 2nd June 2019 and will hope for their back-up opener (if required) to fire if Tamim is not able to play in the match.