Veteran Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will reportedly not be available to play the remainder of Rangpur Riders' first-phase Bangladesh Premier League 2024 matches slated in Dhaka. Shakib is evidently headed to Singapore to try and remedy the eye ailment that plagued him during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 too. (More Cricket News)
Shakib will only be available for the Sylhet phase of BPL, if his eye issue is resolved by then, according to a Cricbuzz report. "He (Shakib) is leaving for Sylhet today and we are expecting him to be available during the Sylhet phase if he recovers from his eye problem. Let's hope for the best but if that is not the case we have to play with our available resources," the report quoted Rangpur Riders' chief executive officer Ishtiaque Sadeque as saying.
Shakib has reportedly been dealing with a condition called 'hypertensive retinopathy'. Resultantly, the Bangladesh skipper had blurred vision on one side of his left eye due to stress and it had a massive impact on his batting during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
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Shakib's batting form continues to be poor upon his return to professional cricket. He scored just two runs against Fortune Barishal in Rangpur Riders' opening BPL 2024 match, before getting clean bowled by Khaled Ahmed. However, the left-arm spinner did claim two wickets later, giving away just 16 runs in his quota of four overs.
Riders ended up losing the game by five wickets. After the defeat, Riders' captain Nurul Hasan did not shy away from telling the media that Shakib was struggling with the eye illness. "He (Shakib) has been struggling with eyesight problem for sometimes now. I think he has been in touch with the doctors regularly. The doctors only could say in what stage the problem is now," Nurul told the press.
