Mamunul Islam (L) and Sohel Rana

Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam is in a race against time to be fit for the SAFF Championship opener against Nepal tomorrow, but signs are not good. The key playmaker of the side suffered a knee injury on August 21 and his rehabilitation is still confined to running with the team, not any heavy training. Another midfielder Sohel Rana too is nursing a knee injury.  Coach Lodewijk de Kruif is concerned about the injuries, but not giving up hope of a miracle recovery.
“Let's wait till the last moment. If they have a chance to play, I will use them,” said de Kruif before adding that he will not risk playing Mamunul if he does not recover fully in time.
“I'm not happy with the injuries because Mamun and Sohel are key players and at the moment they are not ready. Their injuries affect my plans because they are important for the way we want to play, the way we want to perform,” said de Kruif.
De Kruif's plans were further disrupted after the tournament committee yesterday revealed that midfielder Monaem Khan Raju will not be eligible to take part in the tournament. Raju, who was drafted in the squad late from outside the initial list of 30 members as a cover for Mamunul Islam and Sohel Rana, will be flying back along with injured goalkeeper Shahidul Islam today.
The Raju fiasco is the result of an extraordinarily amateurish move by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). Knowing fully well that players from outside the preliminary 30-member squad would not be allowed in the competition, Raju was sent to Nepal in the naïve hope that the tournament committee will be lenient. In doing so, the BFF have not only spent needless money in ferrying Raju to and fro, but have seriously disrupted team plans on the eve of an important tournament.
The committee's rejection of Raju trimmed Bangladesh's squad to 20, which is the official number allowed in the tournament.
BANGLADESH SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Mamun Khan, Biplob Bhattacharjee, Ziaur Rahman Zia.
Defenders: Waly Faisal, Ariful Islam, Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Ashraf Mahmud Linkon, Atikur Rahman Mishu, Raihan Hasan.
Midfielders: Mamunul Islam, Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Jamal Bhuiyan, Omar Faruk Babu, Sohel Rana, Zahid Hossain.
Forwards: Toklis Ahmed, Zahid Hasan Emily, Shakhwat Hossain Rony, Mithun Chowdhury, Wahed Ahmed.