Injured Shakib sidelined for up to four weeks

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is likely to miss the beginning of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League with a hairline fracture to his thumb, which could put him out of cricket for three to four weeks.

Shakib had met with the national coach Shane Jurgensen upon his return to Dhaka from his stint at the Caribbean Premier League, and was taken for X-rays after his thumb was bandaged. BCB physician Monirul Amin said Shakib had picked up the injury while training with the Barbados Tridents and will be sidelined until mid-September.

The Dhaka Premier League, after several postponements, is scheduled to begin on September 3 and the first-of-its-kind "player by choice" auctions for the tournament took place last Friday, where Shakib was recruited by Kalabagan Krira Chakra.

Shakib has been struggling with injury over the course of the last season. He had to bowl 97 overs during the Tests against West Indies in November, 52 of them coming in the same innings. The stress left him with exertional compartment syndrome to his shin and in February, he was ruled out of Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka to undergo surgery to his right calf muscle. After recovery, Shakib returned to international cricket, albeit as a batsman, for the Tests against Zimbabwe and eased into his role as a bowler for the limited-over series that followed.

Shakib's recovery is crucial not only for Kalabagan Krira Chakra, who finished ninth last season in the Dhaka Premier League, but also for Bangladesh as they will host New Zealand for two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 in October.