Mashrafe to play Bangladesh's World Cup opener despite hamstring strain

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Mashrafe Mortaza delivers a ball in his opening spell AFP

Mohammad Isam
Bangladesh correspondent,

Despite picking up a hamstring strain during the practice match against India in Cardiff on Tuesday, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza is expected to play his side's World Cup opener against South Africa on Sunday, although it is not clear whether he will be fully fit.

Mashrafe said he had been trying to bowl an extended spell against Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, when he ended up getting injured. He finished with economical figures of 0 for 23 in six overs.

"A lot of times in such cases, I face trouble bowling the first one or two overs. Once I get through that, I don't face any more problems. I also wasn't facing any problems today [on Tuesday]," Mashrafe told the Dhaka based bdnews24. "But I pulled a hamstring during the sixth over. I could have stopped after four or five overs but Rohit and Kohli were looking to score runs quickly during that period. I felt that I needed to practice bowling in such a situation."

Mashrafe was seen in the dressing room for most of the India innings with his deputy Shakib Al Hasan captaining the side in his absence. Mashrafe also did not come out to bat as Bangladesh fell 95 runs short of India's 359 for 7. After the game Mashrafe admitted Bangladesh had a few injury concerns in the squad. Shakib has recently recovered from a side strain, while Mustafizur Rahman is nursing a calf injury.

Tamim Iqbal, too, didn't play against India due to a minor thigh strain he suffered in training couple of days ago. He is also expected to be fit for the South Africa game.