One-on-one sessions reveal issues

The last two days have seen the probables for the New Zealand series in October sweat it out in the ongoing fitness camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with a number of new training sessions.
Part of the new regime are the players' one-on-one sessions with the national team's physio, Vibhav Singh, in order to get a better understanding of their current physical condition. These sessions formed the basis of some diagnoses of the current level of fitness of some players.
In these 'musculoskeletal screenings' as Vibhav calls them, the cricketers are asked to perform a number of exercises based on which he analyses the fitness levels. A surprising development was that the squad had to be reduced because one player had entered the programme too injured to train.
Left-handed batsman Junaed Siddiqui had to be taken off the programme after his session with Vibhav. “He was carrying an injury from the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) and participating in the camp would only further aggravate the injury,” said Vibhav.
The physio also revealed special plans for Nasir Hossain who has been struggling with his throws from the outfield due to a slap lesion in his shoulder. “The orthopaedic in Cape Town (whom Nasir visited after the tour of Zimbabwe) told us that while he does have a problem in his shoulder, the risk of him getting operated and not returning was too high and that's something we don't want,” explained Vibhav. “We have decided to introduce him to a new throwing technique so that it doesn't hurt him while throwing the ball. He is also working on his shoulder muscles to further improve.”
The sessions so far have revealed a number of issues. “A common thing is that a lot of boys were weak in their core (belly, mid and lower back). If you have got a weak core then you might lose power and stability and that could be affecting your bowling or batting. So that needs more focus,” he added.
The physio was however positive about pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's progress. “He has done all the exercises that the others have done without any special attention and he has been pain-free.”
While he was positive about Mashrafe's comeback in the limited overs format, a return to Test cricket in October was still uncertain. “There are many stages. He needs to lose weight, be fit to bowl, be fit for cricket and then be match-fit. But the series is 16 weeks away so there's still time,” said Vibhav. Regarding the other pacers the physio said that Nazmul Hossain, who recently returned from Australia after a surgery, would start bowling after four to six weeks. Abul Hassan, on the other hand, is still struggling with a back injury and will receive an injection on Wednesday to relieve pain.