Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has been taken to hospital after suffering a blow to his head on the third morning of the Bloemfontein Test. Although he looked shaken when the incident occurred, he batted on for another 40 minutes despite initial advice that he should be assessed.
Mushfiqur was on 11 when he ducked into a bouncer from Duanne Olivier in the 14th over of the innings and was hit on the left side of his helmet. He did not go to ground immediately but walked to the leg side, sat on his knees and then hunched over. He was surrounded by the South African team and attended to by the Bangladesh management.
Bangladesh do not have a team doctor in their camp but a physiotherapist, Thihan Chandramohan, administered on-field treatment to Mushfiqur in the immediate aftermath. South Africa’s team manager, Mohammed Moosajee, who is also a medical doctor, arrived on the scene, inspected Mushfiqur and recommended he leave the field.
Given Moosajee’s position as a member of the opposition camp, he could not do any more and soon left the field. Mushfiqur took several more minutes and got a change of helmet before deciding to bat on. He had taken a similar blow in the Wellington Test against New Zealand in January. Then he took the advice of the local doctors and was stretchered off to hospital.
A comment was sought from the Bangladesh manager but he is yet to reply. If Olivier was feeling sympathetic, he didn’t show it. The next ball he bowled was also short, but angled down the leg side and Mushfiqur avoided it. He faced 10 more short balls from Olivier, edged him twice but both times the ball fell short of fielders, and hit left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj for two well-timed boundaries before he was given some reprieve.
Wayne Parnell replaced Olivier at the Loch Logan End and pitched his first three deliveries up and angled them across Mushfiqur. He shouldered arms to the fourth one, was struck on the pads and given out lbw three minutes before the scheduled lunch break. Mushfiqur reviewed the decision but remained out on umpire’s call.
