No update about Shakib: Minhajul

With just a week to go for the Asia Cup in UAE the selectors are still in the dark about Bangladesh Test and T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan's fitness situation.

There has been a lot of talks over Shakib's fitness since the all-rounder said during an interview with The Daily Star on Wednesday that he is 20-30 percent fit.

"We have no news over Shakib's issue," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin told reporters yesterday. "There has been a lot of talk about whether he will undergo surgery. But we did not receive any update from the doctors [BCB's medical team]. We know that he is fit to play and we hope that he will be able to play the whole tournament."

Apart from Shakib there are also injury concerns over Tamim Iqbal and Nazmul Hossain, with both left-handers are suffering from finger injuries. Young Nazmul hurt his right index finger during a slip catching session on Tuesday while Tamim is having issues with his right ring finger.

Minhajul however is hopeful that both cricketers will be able to regain fitness before the tournament but he also added that they have included Mominul Haque as backup if any of the two cricketers are not able to recover in time.

"Mominul was included as Nazmul still has some pain on his finger and requires another five days to become fully fit. Tamim, on the other hand has an old issue with his finger, but according to the report of the physio there is no problem. If he faces any problem in the middle of the tournament then we may require an extra player as backup, which is the reason to include Mominul," he added.

It was learned that the medical team will give a final update about the three cricketers by today.