Shakib out of tour

* All-rounder to undergo surgery on right calf in Australia by Thursday, says national team's physician Debashish Chowdhury
* Chowdhury hopeful of Shakib's return before Zimbabwe tour in April
* Losing Shakib a big loss…. But we were ready for it' – chief selector Akram Khan

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Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will miss out on Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka next month as he is scheduled to undergo an operation in Australia on his right leg this week. He'll be going under the knife to treat one of the three problems that he was earlier diagnosed with by the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) physicians.
Chairman of BCB's cricket operations committee Enayet Hossain Siraj confirmed the news at Mirpur yesterday. The operation is expected to sideline the player for six weeks.
“He'll have to stay in Australia for a week or 10 days immediately after the operation. After a week there will be an assessment. Once he can move, he'll return to the country. Theoretically it'll take him six weeks to return to the cricket field. He'll begin exercising three weeks after the operation,” said Debasish Chowdhury, BCB's physician, adding that hopefully Shakib will be available for the Zimbabwe tour in April.
“He has an appointment with a podiatrist (feet specialist) this Monday. We just wanted to talk to a podiatrist to get a bio-mechanical assessment from him and get as much information as possible. After that he is most likely to undergo surgery by Thursday,” added Chowdhury.
Shakib's impending surgery and subsequent time out of the team made life difficult for the national selectors, who met with the national team's head coach yesterday afternoon to finalise the team for the first Test against Sri Lanka
“Losing Shakib for the series is obviously a big loss. It's almost impossible to replace a player of his calibre. It's as good as losing a batsman and a bowler,” said chief selector Akram Khan.
“But it's a part of life and honestly speaking we were ready for it and we'll choose someone from the preliminary squad accordingly. We will be finalising a 15-member team by Sunday and hopefully the management can work out a good strategy.
Shakib, who went to Australia on Wednesday night for a second opinion on his shin bone injury, met Dr. Scott Burne on Thursday. After checking all the reports the Sydney expert suggested the all-rounder have surgery on his calf to eliminate the stiffness that has been causing him problems for some time.
“The main problem is the Exertional Compartmental Syndrome, which means that his right calf muscle, due to repeated Movements, goes through excessive pressure. If this operation is successful, the compartmental pressure syndrome problem will decrease but for the other two problems (Tenoperi-ostitis and Stress Reaction) he'll have to go through measures such as physiotherapy, rehabilitation and bio-mechanical correction,” said Chowdhury.
It was also learned that the BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon and Shakib himself were in favour of the operation.
The Bangladesh team will leave for Colombo on February 28 to play two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I besides a tour opening three-dayer during the month-long tour.
Shakib had earlier missed the one-day series against West Indies in November-December last year after being diagnosed with a shin injury but played the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he was adjudged the player of the tournament.