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Bangladesh spinner Nayeem Hasan has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Dhaka because of a finger injury. The off-spinner was seen with a sling on his right hand with wraps around the injured finger during the flight from Chattogram to Dhaka on Friday. Nayeem will be the fourth premier bowler set to miss the two-match Test series after injuries to Shoriful Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin Ahmed.
The 21-year-old had a career-best performance in the first innings of the Chattogram Test as he had figures of 6 for 105 on his return to red-ball cricket after 15 months. Hasan got injured on the fourth day of the 1st Test. The off-spinner dropped a return catch of Dimuth Karunaratne where his finger was jammed into the pitch. He still bowled 23 overs in the second innings of the match that ended with a draw.
A BCB statement quoted national team physio Bayzidul Islam saying, "Nayeem had a contusion of the right middle finger while batting and fielding in the first Test. An X-Ray after the match confirmed an oblique fracture on the tip of the middle finger. He will miss the second Test. We will take specialist opinion before planning his rehab and recovery."
Despite Hasan’s six-wicket haul, the Player of the Match was given to Sri Lanka all-rounder and former captain Angelo Mathews who scored 199 runs in 397 balls with 19 fours and one six. During the post-match interview, Mathews talked about missing out on his double hundred and also thanked his teammates for supporting him during his knock.
“I had to concentrate, concentrate, concentrate,” Mathews
He said, “Was disappointing obviously, I just had to get one run and get off strike, it was unfortunate. It was batting-friendly but they didn't give us freebies. For me personally I had to work very hard, I had to concentrate, concentrate, concentrate, with the heat and humidity was not easy. They bowled really well. Without the partners you can't get to 199, they also dug deep. Unfortunate they did not get big scores. I'm hopeful they will in the next game.”