Hridoy learning to live with tennis-elbow injury

Bangladesh batter Towhid Hridoy is currently nursing a tennis-elbow injury as he prepares for the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand, scheduled from 17 April.

Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) medical department is confident that he will be available for the home series against New Zealand, comprising three One Day Internationals and as many T20 Internationals, but it remains to be seen how Hridoy copes with his new preparation routine going forward.

Hridoy, who is known for spending long hours in the nets, needs to manage his workload substantially to play with the tennis elbow injury that is unlikely to be cured fully. 

Excessive practice in the coming days can increase discomfort in his left hand that sustained the tennis-elbow injury. 

“Yes (Hridoy is struggling with tennis elbow injury). Normally this kind of issue happens in the top hand — with batsmen’s top hand. This usually comes from repetitive movement and you all know Hridoy trains extremely hard,” a member of BCB's medical unit confirmed Daily Sun on Thursday. 

“This usually happens more with batsmen — when someone practices a particular shot excessively to correct it. Sometimes it happens even during holidays at home when someone is working on a specific shot. This (tennis elbow) issue was there slightly from the last Bangladesh Cricket League but we managed it and he kept on playing,” he said.

“Then in the last Pakistan series, I think a yorker ball hit the bottom of the bat and that caused his elbow to tremble with pain, and it started to increase. When it got worse it became painful for him even to hold the bat. So the rule here is that whatever repetitive movement is causing the pain — that has to be stopped. We have stopped that and are continuing everything else. We are doing all kinds of advanced treatment so that we can have him ready for the New Zealand series and we are confident he will be available for the series,” he noted.

“But becoming 100% pain-free is very difficult. It usually takes around a year to heal. We have already counseled him that some level of pain will remain and he will have to carry it. Because if we wait for a completely pain-free condition then playing cricket will not be possible within a year,” he stated. 

“He was already struggling with this in the last BCL. Alhamdulillah, we managed it with releases and kept him playing. In the last match, he even scored a big innings with this issue. Then in the Pakistan series, as I said, when the yorker hit, the shock to the elbow increased the pain significantly. After that, we stopped those activities,” he added.

A member of the team management explained that he needs to adapt with his new work module leaving behind the previous one that he used to follow all these years.

“There is a psychological issue and that is, if he doesn’t bat for a long time, he loses confidence as he feels his preparation is not right,” said the coach.

“Because he has never had this kind of injury, it can have an impact on him psychologically. What we are saying is that he will not forget batting if he does not bat for seven days,” he added.

Bangladesh senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin insisted that they can have a better picture after he joins the skill camp.

“I have heard about his tennis-elbow issue but there is no need to panic as batsman continue to bat even with tennis elbow. When he joins the skill camp, how he responds needs to be monitored because at that point we can have a clear picture where he stands,” he said.

Bangladesh national team members completed seven-day fitness camp on Thursday and are expected to start the skill camp from 5 April for the three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The Black Caps are scheduled to arrive on 13 April. The first two ODIs will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on 17 and 20 April before the teams travel to Chattogram for the third match on 23 April at the Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium. 

The first two T20Is will be held in the port city on 27 and 29 April, while the final game will be played in Dhaka on 2 May.