Mahmudullah fit and ready to bowl

There was good news for Bangladesh fans during the Tigers' practice game against the Sri Lankan Board President XI yesterday as Mahmudullah Riyad bowled for the first time since sustaining a shoulder injury during the tour of New Zealand earlier this year.

The injury had kept him from bowling his effective part-time off-spin in the recently concluded World Cup. There was more good news as he is expected to play a full part in the upcoming three-ODI series against Sri Lanka after recovering fully from a Grade 1 tear on his right calf muscle. The injury was sustained during Bangladesh's World Cup game against Afghanistan and kept him out of the next match against India, although the senior batsman did take part in their last World Cup game against Pakistan.

According to Bangladesh team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan the cricketer is expected to start bowling his off-spin again from the upcoming series.

"The state of his shoulder is comparatively better from what it was during the World Cup. He is doing the work for his rehab and yes, he is still bowling with a round-arm action and will gradually start with a straight-arm action. It will improve when it comes to bowling and there should be no problem. We are hoping that he will be able to bowl in this series," Bayjed told The Daily Star yesterday.

However, he also added that Mahmudullah will have to make some changes while throwing as he won't be able to throw with full intensity for the rest of his career.

"There is still some problem in throwing, intensity-wise and it will develop slowly. But it won't recover fully as there is a complete tear in that spot," he said.

Mahmudullah scored 33 runs with the bat after bowling three overs and also fielded for some time.