Image courtesy of: Zee News

Mortaza has undergone 10 surgical procedures since 2001

Bangladesh pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza has announced that he is working towards making his international comeback in October after being sidelined due to a heel injury he sustained in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in February.

Mortaza’s road to recovery has been partially sped up by a three-week fitness programme he underwent at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The pace bowler revealed that he had lost a lot of weight through the programme and was targeting to make his return during Bangladesh’s home series against New Zealand.

He also noted that his injury has taken longer than usual to heal due to the numerous other injuries he has sustained on his left leg.

“I have lost four kilos from the start of the camp, and I still need to reduce [another] four to five kilos,” he said. “I need to weigh around 84-85 to feel completely fit. Vibhav Singh [Bangladesh physio] told me that I still need four to five weeks to be completely fit.”

Since making his debut in 2001, Mortaza has undergone 10 surgical procedures and he considers himself lucky not to have increased that number to 11.

“I bowled four-five overs yesterday with a short run up, and I bowled almost six overs today with the same run-up, and I didn’t feel any pain,” he said. “But I am not able to bowl at my full strength as I feel that the pain may return if I rush myself. There is enough time for me to make myself fitter as the New Zealand series is in October, and I am confident of getting there on time.”

While his confidence may be soaring, Mortaza also admitted that he could not afford to fall victim to any more injuries for the remainder of his international career.

“I am very careful about recovering from my injury this time,” he said. “I can’t afford any more injuries at this point of my career.”