Nahid Rana flies to Australia for further treatment

Nahid Rana is set to fly to Perth for specialist treatment, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board refusing to gamble on the fast bowler’s recovery from persistent hip pain.

The 23-year-old is due to depart tonight for a further round of medical assessment in Australia.

His medical reports were first sent to Perth-based doctor Peter D’Alessandro, who advised remotely that rehabilitation could begin in Bangladesh.

The BCB nevertheless chose to send Rana abroad, preferring to remove any potential risk before the busy home season begins.

Rana will see D’Alessandro in person at Coastal Orthopaedic Hospital, where the doctor will decide his rehabilitation plan only after the assessment.

The board has already arranged a 10-day programme in Perth, overseen by him and a local trainer, ready for whatever the examination recommends.

The problem began with a side strain on the tour of Zimbabwe in July, which ruled Rana out of both Tests against Australia and the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. Although the strain healed, hip pain soon followed.

He could not train hard or bowl for almost a month, and on returning he first used a shortened run-up, lengthening it gradually. Hip pain surfaced during that phase, and doctors suspect the long layoff stopped him rebuilding the strength bowling demands.

Scans at a leading hospital in Dhaka found nothing serious in the hip or lower back, yet doctors have been unable to locate the source of the pain. That uncertainty has heightened concern within the BCB medical team and explains the decision to look abroad.

Perth suits the board for practical reasons, with coach Mohammad Salim based in the city. Rana also knows the facility, having been treated there for a shin bone injury in August, and he consulted a specialist in Australia during Bangladesh’s Test tour there.

Selectors had hoped to bring him back for the tri-series with Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, but the pain derailed that plan.

Chief selector Habibul Bashar said on October 11: “He could still play in the West Indies series; he has not been ruled out yet.”

He is now unlikely for the West Indies Tests from October 28, with the focus on the South Africa Tests in November.