Shanto out of Asian Games with illness
Najmul Hossain Shanto has been ruled out of Bangladesh’s Asian Games campaign after being diagnosed with an infection following a persistent fever.
Najmul Hossain Shanto has been suffering from a low-grade fever since arriving in Nagoya with the Bangladesh team and has been ruled out of the 20th Asian Games. He will return to Dhaka on Tuesday.
National team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan confirmed that Shanto had been unwell for four days and that tests conducted in Nagoya had found evidence of infection.
The batter has tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.
“Shanto had been suffering from fever since we landed. It has been four days already, but the fever has persisted.
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“It is a low-grade fever, and tests conducted here have confirmed evidence of infection, although he has tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.
“He is understandably very weak and is not expected to recover in time to play any part in the Asian Games. Therefore, he is flying back home.”
Bangladesh men's cricket team were directly seeded into the quarter-finals of the Asian Games, where they are due to face against Malaysia tomorrow on 29 September.
Incidentally, three years ago, the two sides had met up in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games, where Bangladesh overcame a spirited Malaysian effort by the barest of margins, winning by merely two runs.
India and Pakistan have already qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of the contests between Malaysia and Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and Nepal will be the other two semi-finalists.