Bangladesh women’s cricket team will be without their premier pacer, Marufa Akter, for the upcoming tour of New Zealand. The side is scheduled to fly out from Dhaka on December 4 to compete in a white-ball series consisting of three ODIs and three T20Is.
Marufa is currently prescribed four weeks of complete bed rest and is expected to regain the ability to walk by the first week of December. Medical assessments indicate she is suffering from bone erosion at the base of the fifth metatarsal in her right foot, a condition that has necessitated the use of an Aircast boot.
It is understood that Marufa received an injection prior to the recent tour of Australia; however, the intervention failed to provide the desired results. Consequently, team management opted to rest her for the final match of that series. A senior BCB official explained that the team has chosen to exercise caution to ensure she makes a full recovery, stating, “She is unavailable for the tour of New Zealand as we don’t want to rush her considering she is one of our premier cricketers.” But the treatment did not produce the expected response, understands that she had received an injection ahead of the recent tour of Australia.
The official emphasized the importance of ensuring she can eventually bowl at full strength without discomfort, noting that the recurrent pain in her ankle prompted this decision to allow for an extended recovery period. By avoiding a premature return, the board aims to prevent further complications that could hinder her long-term performance. The pain recurred in her ankle and we don’t want that to happen again and so decided to give her as much time as needed to make sure she can bowl without any kind of discomfort going forward, because without full recove.
