Not aware of Shakib Al Hasan's injury: Batting coach David Hemp

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp said that he was not aware of any injury to Shakib Al Hasan's finger. Hemp reacted to the speculation made by Murali Karthik during commentary in the Chennai Test match.

In Short

• Shakib Al Hasan has not been performing as per expectations
• Murali Karthik reveals that Shakib is carrying an injury
• Bangladesh coach David Hemp says he has no knowledge about the injury

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp reacted to the speculation of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan carrying an injury and said that he had no idea about the same. Shakib has been poor with both bat and ball so far. In fact, the all rounder only bowled a total of 21 overs across 2 innings in the Chennai Test.

Former India spinner Murali Karthik provided a news during his broadcast duties and said that Shakib had been carrying an injury on his finger, which has now allowed him to bowl much during the game.

"He's had a finger surgery on his bowling finger which is the point of his finger of his left hand. It is swollen, it is rigid, there's no movement no suppleness to it. Also he is having issues with his shoulder so it's a combination of both," Murali Karthik had said while commentating in the game.

Speaking at the press conference after the conclusion of Day 3 of the 1st Test, Hemp said that he had no idea about any injury that Shakib might have been carrying.

"No, not aware of that at all, sorry," he said.

IND vs BAN, 1st Test, Day 3: Highlights | Full Scorecard

Hemp said that the Cheapuk track is still a "reasonable" one to bat, and expects his batters to put on a show on Sunday.

"In terms of days to bat, it's still a good wicket. Today, we've seen that (Ravichandran) Ashwin obviously got a couple of balls to bounce quite significantly. But, if you still miss, you can still score. So for us tomorrow, it's still a reasonable surface," he further added.

India have put themselves in a prime position to win the first Test with Rishabh Pant (109) and Shubman Gill (119 not out) hitting magnificent hundreds on the third day. The hosts set Bangladesh an improbable target of 515 runs to win the Test.

Bangladesh showed some spunk in their second innings to reach 158 for four when play was called off early due to bad light. They still need a whopping 357 runs for the result to be in their favour.

"The difference with the second (innings) is we got people that got in, so they faced balls. It's all about scoring runs, and you're looking to score, so that hasn't changed," Hemp said during the post-day press conference.

"We got tested or players got tested early on in their innings around the stumps more, and that was a big difference. Obviously, we're playing against India, who possess some quality bowling, a very confident side, especially playing at home. So, you're going to be challenged."

The third day saw fine batting conditions, with less heat and the pitch still looking good. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was batting on 51 not out off 60 balls and giving him company was star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (5 not out) at stumps on Day 3.

Hemp somewhat regretted that his batters failed to get going in the first innings on Friday.

"Obviously, we were in a really good position against India in the first innings, but building on that was unfortunate. I certainly believe the skill level within our group was good enough to deal with a certain number of balls.

"I think the difference between the first and the second innings was obviously ball space. So, I think the Indian bowlers certainly challenged the stumps really well in the first innings, and they knocked people over.

"So, when we sit back and look at it, review the game whenever that ends, that certainly would be a discussion point in terms of how can we improve our performance because that's what we want to do," concluded the Bangladesh batting coach.