Mosharraf Hossain hopes to play again after successful brain surgery

Mosharraf Hossain underwent a successful brain surgery © Cricbuzz

In March this year, the life of the Bangladesh left-arm spinner Mohsharaf Hossain turned upside down. During a medical check-up, it was revealed that he had brain tumor (glioma) - a type of tumor that starts in the glial cells of the brain. Hossain turned up for the check-up after he'd gone through days of being severely ill and even fainting on a few occasions. The tests revealed he needed medical attention at the earliest.

According to Mosharraf, at that point of time all kinds of insecurities started creeping into his mind as he was not sure about the extent of the damage. "It was really scary," Mosharraf told Cricbuzz.

"I could not talk for months initially. My wife helped me for communicating. According to the doctor, for any left-hander, the right side of the brain controls the speech abilities. And the problem came up because the surgery was done on the right side. Now I am talking but with several pauses. I am confident it will be ok at some point of my life," he said.

Mosharraf's illness took a huge toll on his family considering the amount of financial burden that it brought along. "To be honest, I was very insecure as this is not something for which I was prepared even in my wildest dream," he said.

"I decided to start my treatment banking on my savings of 70 to 80 Lakh BDT [100,000 USD]. But it ended up being insufficient as I have to pay nearly 150,000 USD as my hospital bill for my operation and three cycle of chemotherapy," he said, adding that he might have to sell his flat to raise funds.

"I am talking to probable buyers as I have decided to sell my flat to make sure that I have got the required money with me to complete the remaining three cycles of chemotherapy, as each cycle is worth about 10 Lakh that is more than 10,000 USD, apart from travelling expense," he said, adding that he was only slightly relieved after he underwent a successful surgery to his brain tumor at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

"Still there are three (therapy) left. Radio therapy and the surgery were successful as it ended without any problem. I am hoping to be cleared after three more surgeries that is expected to be completed by November. In the meantime they did MRI and the report was good. If any new kind of tumor was found than there would be some tension as it would force me to take a new and harder chemo."

Despite going through such an adversity, Mosharraf hasn't given up the dream of playing cricket again. He hopes to get back to action in the upcoming National Cricket League and base his future decisions on how he shapes up there.

"I want to start playing from the upcoming NCL. After playing one match I will understand where I stand as far as my physical condition is concerned. I have to push myself to get back my fitness as at the moment I feel that is the only barrier for me to overcome. If I can regain my fitness then certainly I can play because I am probably ready when it comes to fulfilling my role with bat and ball that is required to get back into the playing XI," he said

"If I bowl with my eyes closed, the ball will land at the same area. I bowled before the last chemo (therapy) and my bowling is getting better with each passing day. I bowled to Imrul Kayes on other day, and he said, you can surrender your weapon but not you're training," he said.

"I just want to play competitive cricket in the domestic circuit and want to start performing the way I used to do like scoring fifties and picking five wickets regularly. I want to start that again. I want to play at domestic level and want to dominate like before when I became man of the match in all seven games in the National League, while I was man of the match in five or six successive occasion in the Dhaka Premier League," he said.

Mosharraf added that he is taking inspiration from the fighting spirit shown by Yuvraj Singh, who made a return after battling out against cancer.

"Yuvraj Singh has already proved it in the past and I am certainly inspired through it as it made me believe that I can still continue playing," he said. "I know that I am fighting a huge battle but I can assure you that I am not lost from inside," he said.