Marufa Ruled Out of New Zealand Tour as Bangladesh Take Cautious Approach

Bangladesh’s leading pacer Marufa Akter will miss the upcoming white-ball tour of New Zealand due to an ankle injury, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board opting to prioritise her full recovery over a premature return.

The Bangladesh women’s team departed Dhaka on December 4 for a series comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is. Marufa is currently on four weeks of bed rest and is expected to start walking again in the first week of December, leaving no realistic prospect of her featuring in the tour.

The injury is a bone erosion at the base of the fifth metatarsal bone in her right foot. The condition worsened recently, and she is currently wearing an Aircast boot. A BCB official confirmed that the decision to withdraw her was driven by a longer-term view of her career.

“She is unavailable for the tour of New Zealand as we don’t want to rush her considering she is one of our premier cricketers and we need to make sure she returns back after recovering fully,” the official told IGK.

“The pain recurred in her ankle and we don’t want that to happen again and so decided to give her as much time as needed to make sure she can bowl without any kind of discomfort going forward, because without full recovery she will face difficulty to do bowling according to her strength.”

A Treatment That Did Not Take

Marufa had received an injection ahead of the recent tour of Australia, but the treatment did not produce the expected response. That outcome prompted the team management to rest her for the final game of that tour, a decision that now appears to have been the beginning of a longer absence.

The recurrence of pain has shaped the board’s thinking. Rather than risk a cycle of partial recoveries and setbacks, the BCB has elected to allow the injury to heal fully before she resumes bowling.

For Bangladesh, the loss of their premier pace bowler for a tour of New Zealand represents a significant setback. The series offers valuable exposure against a strong opponent, and Marufa’s absence will place additional responsibility on the remaining bowling attack.

The timeline for her return remains tied to the recovery of the bone erosion. Walking again in early December is the first milestone. Bowling without discomfort is the objective that follows, and the BCB has made clear it will not be rushed.

                                               

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