Fast bowler Khaled eying return to cricket with BPL

Publish: 7:36 PM, October 8, 2019 | Update: 7:36 PM, October 8, 2019

DHAKA, – Fast bowler Khaled Ahmed is on course of a recovery from the knee injury and set a target to return to cricket with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Khaled, who is considered to be one of the good pace bowlers around and groomed for the longer version, damaged his left knee at his hometown during the Eid-ul-Fitr break of elite camp.

BCB officials said that the MRI report suggests that he had damaged his meniscus to an extent that it will take time to be healed completely. As part of his recovery, he underwent an operation and is now in rehab under BCB physio Bayezidul Haque.

Khaled claimed that he is now 70 per cent fit and by the time when BPL will be held, he will be completely fit to play cricket.

“I have been in rehab now and you now there is no end of rehab. It’s a continuous process. But what I feel that I am now 70 per cent fit,” Khaled said here on Tuesday.

Khaled, who played two Test matches so far, made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2018 while he played his last Test at Hamilton in New Zealand in February 2019.

He didn’t do anything extraordinary but he showed his capability to bowl in long spell without taking off the pace.

Due to his rehab, he also is not considered to play the National Cricket League (NCL), which begins on October 10.

“It’s really painful to be away from the cricket. There is NCL and there are some matches of A team. Everybody is playing there while I am here to rehab,” he said.

“I am disappointed but won’t give up the hopes. I hope I will be okay by the end of November and can play the BPL. This is my target at this moment,” he added.

Khaled also said that he wants to make him available for the national team by playing well in the BPL.

“I want to take back my place in the national team. But for that I have to show the performance. The BPL is a platform to prove that I am now ready to play for the national team again,” he concluded.