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Shakib Al Hasan retires hurt with suspected side strain

Shakib Al Hasan retired hurt during the course of Bangladesh's chase in the final league fixture against Ireland after hurting his left side.

The injury, suspected to be a side strain, took him off the field after he had faced 51 balls for his half-century. The incident occurred at the end of the 36th over of Bangladesh's chase. Only an over earlier, he was holding his left side in pain. Physio Thihan Chandramohan spent several minutes trying to relieve him of the pain, before Shakib decided to continue batting.

Then as he resumed, he felt the pain as he pulled a short ball off Joshua Little. However, he decided to retire hurt in the next over. The gravity of his injury isn't yet ascertained and it is likely that the Bangladesh Cricket Board will throw light after receiving an update from the physio.

The decision was a wise one, considering Bangladesh are in their final stretches of preparation for the World Cup. As such, Shakib has dealt with multiple finger injuries in recent times, the one last September nearly derailing his career as the finger contracted an infection.

Shakib then broke his finger during the BPL final in February, which forced him to miss the New Zealand tour.

Bangladesh are already through to the tri-series final against West Indies on May 17.