Minor injury worries for Bangladesh

Two days before their crucial game against Ireland, Bangladesh had injury scares to two key players while training. Shafiul Islam fell badly on his shoulder when going for a catch, and Imrul Kayes was hit on his right forearm when batting. They both looked bad blows when they happened - any fast bowler taking a bad fall is dangerous, and Imrul came out with a swollen arm - but the team is confident both of them will recover in time to play on Friday.

For a while, it seemed Bangladesh might even take the drastic step of bringing back Mashrafe Mortaza, who was not picked for the World Cup but who has been training with the side just in case. The injuries would also have brightened Mohammad Ashraful's comeback chances, although he is still a contender even if Kayes makes it back in time.

All those contingencies were all but laid to rest by the team physiotherapist, Mike Henry. "Shafiul is all right," Henry said. "He had an awkward fall on his right shoulder. We have given him the ice treatment, and we are not really concerned. We ran a few tests on him too. It was as we suspected, a fall. He is not ruled out for the Friday game."

Henry was hopeful about Kayes too. "He didn't wear his armguard, which he should have," Henry said. "It was a bruise, and of course it is not going to stop him from playing. It is a bit sore, and he had anyway finished his batting session."

It is just as well that the injury scares were not serious, because Bangladesh are up against an inspired Ireland side who have beaten them in both their clashes in world events. Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh's wicketkeeper-batsman, even called this a bid for revenge. "It is like the match against India when we looked back to take inspiration," Mushfiqur said. "It is the same thing in our mind about the Ireland game. We drew 1-1 in Ireland last year, and we lost to them in the 2007 and 2009 World Cups. So yes, we want to beat them and take revenge."

That doesn't mean that there was any disrespect for the opposition. "Ireland will be geared up to perform here because they have crossed a lot of hurdles to play the World Cup," Mushfiqur said. "But no matter how much they practise here, they will find it hard to cope with our spinners."