Bangladesh star opener Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the home T20I series against Pakistan scheduled right after the ongoing T20 World Cup and instead is gearing up to return in the longest format against the same opponent, Cricbuzz reported.
Tamim had opted out of the global event after his long streak with injury leading up the tournament and chose to play the Everest Premier League to get back on the field. However, he suffered a fresh injury and fractured his left thumb ruling him out of the game for another significant period of time.
"I met the doctor and they have advised me to start my batting from November 7 against spin and now I am eyeing to play in the fifth round of NCL. Haven't yet recovered from the thumb injury. I have completed three weeks of rehabilitation and there is one more week to go before I can start batting again,” Tamim said to Cricbuzz.
Bangladesh are all set to host Pakistan for a three-match long T20 series starting November 19 and the entire series will be played in Dhaka. The teams will then move to Chattogram to play the first Test of the two-match Test series before travelling back to Dhaka for the second and final Test of the series and tour.