Bangladesh suffered a major blow ahead of their T20I series in Pakistan as pacer Mustafizur Rahman was ruled out due to a thumb injury.Mustafizur sustained the injury while playing for Delhi Capitals against Punjab Kings on May 24, during a caught-and-bowled attempt off Josh Inglis.Bangladesh's physio Delowar Hossain said the injury will require three weeks of rest for Mustafizur to recover.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named Khaled Ahmed as his replacement for the T20I series."Mustafizur suffered a clip fracture on his left thumb while playing his last match of the Indian Premier League yesterday," Hossain said.

"This injury requires a period of rest and rehabilitation. As per our current assessment, he will be unavailable for selection for the next two to three weeks. We will conduct a follow-up evaluation after two weeks to monitor his recovery progress."Mustafizur, a key component of Bangladesh's pace bowling attack, is the third player to become unavailable for the series that begins on May 28 in Lahore. Earlier, Nahid Rana pulled out of the series for personal reasons, while Soumya Sarkar injured his back and was replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.Khaled, meanwhile, will cherish the opportunity after enjoying a productive 2024-25 season, taking 77 wickets at 21.74 across all formats of competitive cricket. He took 20 wickets at an average of 21.55 in the recent Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season.Bangladesh will play a three-match T20I series in Lahore on May 28, 30, and June 1, having just lost a T20I series 2-1 to the UAE in Sharjah.