||CF Correspondent||

Bangladesh selector Habibul Bashar said on Thursday that they are not ruling our Shakib Al Hasan from the Test series against New Zealand though he is all set to miss the opening Test.

According to Habibul though they have included Soumya Sarkar for the three-match Test series that is scheduled to start on February 28 in Hamilton, there is a possibility Shakib might make a comeback in the three-match Test series at some point depending on his recovery status.

Shakib was ruled out of the three-match ODI series in New Zealand after sustaining an injury to his left ring finger in the Bangladesh Premier League final between Dhaka Dynamites and Comilla Victorians at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on February 8.

Shakib, who was leading Dynamites, copped a blow from Thisara Perera while batting and suffered a fracture after an x-ray was done following the match.

BCB on February 9 announced that the affected area will need to be immobilized for around three weeks and with the timeline set to immobilize by BCB physicians, the 31-year-old was effectively ruled out of the first of the three Tests against New Zealand. 

“We are not ruling out Shakib totally from the entire Test series against New Zealand but certainly he will be missing the opening Test,’’ said Habibul.

“We are waiting to see how he fares after opening the clip that is surrounded on his finger and later we can take a decision regarding him because if there is a substantial amount of improvement he can always join the squad at the latter part of the Test series,’’ he said.