[Eshen]

Bashar is getting ready to join former cricketers (where he rightfully belongs)

Bashar starts practice with nat’l team

Former captain Habibul Bashar joined the practice of the Bangladesh national cricket team on Wednesday after sitting idle for nearly three months.

Bashar has been without any cricket since the Dhaka Premier Cricket League ended in May, although he is still a contracted player of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and is very much a part of the Test squad.

He was neither considered for the national one-day squad that played a tri-nation tournament at home and the Asia Cup in Pakistan nor for the Bangladesh A team that is now touring England.

‘Having been able to join the practice I feel relived now. Though I practised individually over the last few months, it is always important to do it in a group,’ Bashar told reporters after the practice.

His first group practice in three months was limited to physical exercises as rain prevented any batting practice at the central wicket. Some of his team-mates, however, spent time in the indoor nets.

Though Bashar returned to practice, it is unlikely for him to get a competitive game anytime soon as Bangladesh will not play any Test until October when New Zealand will tour to play two Tests and three one-day international matches.

In August Bangladesh will tour Canada and Australia for a four-nation Twnety20 tournament and a three-match ODI series respectively, but selectors are unlikely to give him a nod for those competition. He is, however, widely tipped to tour Canada for a festival game of former cricketers.

http://www.newagebd.com/2008/jul/17/spt.html