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Mohammad Rafique barely escaped disciplinary ction ten months after he was forced to fly back home from Harare following a heated exchange with his captain Habibul Bashar.

The experienced left-arm spinner, who missed the first three one-day games because of a strained hamstring, lost his composure for the second time while going through a fitness test at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

This time the leading wicket-taker of the country engaged in a verbal war with team physio Robbie Hunt at the latter stage of a gruelling one-hour fitness test.

A visibly excited Rafique, who was at that time practising running between the wickets, furiously raised his bat at Hunt before fitness trainer Stuart Karpinnen intervened.

The unsavory incident stunned members of both the Bangladesh and Zimbabwe teams, who were also training at the time.

Rafique then walked off the ground with his head hanging over his shoulder and stayed inside the dressing room for the reminder of the training.

A visibly disturbed Hunt, on the other hand, kept quiet for the rest of the session and refused to talk to reporters while rushing back to the dressing room.

Although both Rafique and Hunt did not speak, it was assumed that the trouble started after the Australian physio said something that apparently offended Rafique.

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore and Habibul Bashar tried to play down the incident in an attempt to uphold the spirit of the team ahead of the crucial fourth one-day match on January 29.

But Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who was batting in the nets when the incident took place, certainly enjoyed the episode.

Taibu, who is leading the five-match series 2-1, refused to make any comment but with a broad smile on his face said: "I have curiously looked at what happened in the middle."

However, in the end the Bangla-desh team management after a series of discussions brokered a truce with chief selector Faruque Ahmed playing the role of peacemaker.

"Here is an announcement for you that Rafique has passed the fitness test and he has been included in the 14-member squad for the last two games replacing left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak," he said while confirming that Rafique and Hunt had put the incident behind them.

"I have talked to both Rafique and Hunt and all they wanted to say was they were friends again. Whatever happened today can happen to any team. But I can tell you that they shook hands and wanted to get on with the business of cricket," the chief selector told reporters.

But the uncalled for incident had a bearing on training as the cricketers, who flew into Dhaka from Chittagong in the morning, nonchalantly played a game of football before engaging in a monotonous drill.

A witty Whatmore however said that the training was a spirited one.

Bashar, on the other hand, was totally focused on tomorrow's day-night clash at the premier venue of the country.

"We have won the last game comfortably in Chittagong but still there are areas we need to improve on," said the 32-year-old adding that it was not only the middle-order that was not getting the runs but also the bowling at times was giving away too many runs.

Asked what was going wrong with Mohammad Ashraful, who has been a flop in the series so far, Bashar blamed the nature of the wicket.

"Ashraful is a stroke-maker who loves to play his shots. But the wickets we have played on in Chittagong and Dhaka were not ideal for stroke play," said Bashar.

The Bangladesh captain admitted that the toss was vital on this kind of slow surface but expressed his desire to complete a successful run chase after two futile attempts.

"We want to successfully chase in at least one game just to prove that we are a better side than Zimbabwe."

But when asked whether he would field first if he won the toss tomorrow, Bashar replied in the negative.

The dashing right-hander however admitted that he would have dearly loved an off-spinner in the side but he was ready to play with the available resources.

SQUAD: Habibul Bashar (captain), Nafees Iqbal, Rajin Saleh, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful, Manzarul Islam, Khaled Mashud (wicketkeeper), Khaled Mahmud, Alok Kapali, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafee-Bin-Mortuza, Tapash Baisya, Nazmul Hossain and Enamul Haque.
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The Bangladesh players stretch during a light training session at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. The Tigers, who trail the five-match one-day international series against Zimbabwe 1-2, play the fourth game tomorrow.

-Dailystar