Tanzid skips batting session with neck discomfort

Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim skipped the team’s batting session in the nets in Mackay on Thursday due to neck stiffness.

Tanzid warmed up with the team and also took part in the fielding session, but did not bat owing to discomfort in his neck.

Tanzid scored a brilliant hundred in the opening Test at Darwin and played a massive role behind Bangladesh’s historic nine-wicket win over Australia. The left-handed opener spent a large part of the practice session standing in a corner alongside chief selector Habibul Bashar at the Great Barrier Reef Arena on Thursday.

It is understood that with two days to go before the second Test gets underway, the team management did not want to take any risks with Tanzid after he informed them about his neck discomfort. He was duly rested from batting as a result.

The team management expects Tanzid to return to the nets soon before the second Test but as part of their back-up plan, they gave Soumya Sarkar a long run in the nets. Sarkar spent considerable time in the nets with bat and ball on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Mushfiqur Rahim copped a blow to the finger and sat on the pitch after being hit. But to the relief of the visitors, he resumed batting after receiving first aid from the physio.

Meanwhile, pacer Shoriful Islam, who joined the squad for the second Test after missing the opening game due to injury, had a long bowling stint in the nets.

Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons said that they will take a call on the playing XI on the eve of the game.

“We'll decide tomorrow. That's not decided yet,” Simmons told reporters when asked whether tourists will go with a fourth pacer in Mackay.

“He [Shoriful] offers something different, but again, we just won a Test match, so I am one of them who hardly likes to change [a] winning eleven,” he said.