Bangladesh confident of Hridoy's availability for NZ series

Bangladesh batter Towhid Hridoy is nursing his tennis-elbow injury as he prepares for the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand at home, scheduled from April 17.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board's medical department is confident that he will be available for the home series against New Zealand, which includes three ODIs and as many T20Is. However, it remains to be seen how Hridoy will cope with his new preparation routine going forward.

Hridoy, who is known for spending long hours in the nets, needs to manage his workload substantially to play with the tennis elbow injury that is unlikely to be cured fully.

"Hridoy is struggling with tennis elbow injury. Usually, this kind of issue happens with a batter's top hand. This usually comes from repetitive movement," a member of BCB medical unit confirmed to Cricbuzz on Thursday.

"This tennis elbow issue was there slightly from the last BCL, but we managed it and he kept on playing," he said. "Then in the last Pakistan series, I think a yorker ball hit the bottom of the bat and that caused his elbow to tremble with pain and it started to increase. When it got worse, it became painful for him even to hold the bat.

"The rule here is that whatever repetitive movement is causing the pain - that has to be stopped. We have stopped that and are continuing everything else. We are doing all kinds of advanced treatment so that we can have him ready for the New Zealand series and we are confident he will be available for the series.

"However, becoming 100% pain-free is very difficult. It usually takes around a year to heal. We have already counselled him that some level of pain will remain and he will have to carry it. If we wait for a completely pain-free condition then playing cricket will not be possible within a year.

Bangladesh senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin insisted that they will have a better picture after he joins the skill camp.

"I have heard about his tennis-elbow issue but there is no need to panic as batters have continued to bat even with tennis elbow," he said. "When he joins the skill camp, how he responds needs to be monitored because at that point we can have a clear picture where he stands as far as his tennis elbow is concerned.

Bangladesh's national team members completed a seven-day fitness camp on Thursday (April 2) and they are expected to start the skill camp from April 5. New Zealand are scheduled to arrive on April 13.