Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Pakistan after suffering a fracture to his left thumb during an India Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) fixture.
The injury occurred while he was representing Delhi Capitals (DC) in their final match of the season against Punjab Kings (PBKS)
The incident took place during Mustafizur Rahman's follow-through when he attempted to grab a return catch from Josh Inglis. The ball struck him awkwardly on his bowling hand, forcing him to leave the field immediately. Scans confirmed a clip fracture, ruling him out of action for at least two to three weeks.
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Khaled Ahmed Replaces Mustafizur Rahman in Bangladesh Squad for Pakistan T20Is
As revealed by Bangladesh’s physio Delowar Hossain, it will take at least two to three weeks for Mustafizur’s injury to heal, following which he will return back to action.
"Mustafizur suffered a clip fracture on his left thumb while playing his last match of the Indian Premier League yesterday," Hossain said as quoted to ESPNcricinfo.
"This injury requires a period of rest and rehabilitation. As per our current assessment, he will be unavailable for selection for the next two to three weeks. We will conduct a follow-up evaluation after two weeks to monitor his recovery progress," he added.
Khaled Ahmed has joined the squad as Mustafizur's replacement. He has not debuted in T20 cricket for Bangladesh but has featured in 16 Test matches and two ODIs. His T20I call-up came in as a reward for his performance in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024-25, where he took 20 wickets.
Bangladesh have already been hit by unavailability of their main players. Before Mustafizur's injury, Nahid Rana, another promising fast-bowler withdrew from the series due to personal reasons. Soumya Sarkar has suffered a back injury and is replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Bangladesh Heading to Pakistan Series After UAE Hammering
Recently, Bangladesh faced a disappointing 1-2 series-defeat to the UAE in the T20 format. Interestingly, in the two matches that they lost, they were without Mustafizur, who was playing the IPL.
The three-match T20I series versus Pakistan starts on May 28. The second and third T20I is scheduled on May 30 and June 1 respectively.
