Shakib's 2019 WC in jeopardy

A left little finger injury that just a month ago seemed to be a minor one has now worsened to the point that ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's participation in the 2019 ICC World Cup, set to begin on May 30 in England, is currently in jeopardy.

The latest updates from doctors after assessing his injured area is that the cricketer will not be able to undergo surgery at least for the next six months, until the infection fully subsides and has been observed to not have any traces in the bone. Further details of his current state will be known after test results arrives in the next few days.

The cricketer, who is in 72-hour observation under doctor Greg Hoy at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, will have to stay in Australia for at least eight days.

The doctors have started administering antibiotics and injections again. Shakib is expected to return to the field after three months to test whether the infection recurs.

"Since there is no chance of doing surgery till around six months elapse, because of the infection. If that [infection] remains [when the surgery is done] then the hand will be ruined, so no one will take that chance. We have to wait till it's a hundred per cent sure that the infection is gone.

"When the medication stops after one-and-a-half to two months we have to wait for one or two months to see if the infection increases. I will also have to play to see if the infection increases. When all the tests are done and we are sure that there is no chance of the infection coming back or increasing, we can go for surgery. It may take six months or one year. Doctors are thinking six months to a year," Shakib told The Daily Star yesterday.

There is little chance of Shakib avoiding the surgery altogether, if the pain miraculously disappears after the medication ends. Even after surgery the finger will be in a fixed position with little to no movement, but it is expected to be in a state suitable to play cricket..

Shakib injured his finger in the final of the tri-nation series against Sri Lanka in January this year.

After returning from the Caribbean in August, Shakib said that he will have to undergo surgery, but Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan expressed a desire that he postpone the operation till after the Asia Cup.

Shakib return from the UAE mid-way through the Asia Cup and had to undergo immediate surgery to remove the pus from his finger in Dhaka and flew for Australia on October 5.

SHAKIB'S RACE TO THE WC IN CASE OF SURGERY

When the medication stops then we have to wait for one or two months to see if the infection increases. Doctors are thinking six months to a year. The medication will end after a month and a half to two months from now; I have to start playing a month after the medication ends to see whether the infection is still there, whether the virus has remained in the bone. If the pain goes away miraculously, there will not have to be a surgery, but chances of that are minuscule.