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Enlarge PhotoBangladesh's captain Shakib Al Hasan plays a ball against England in Dhaka in this March... Bangladesh are confident their captain and finest player Shakib Al Hasan will recover from chickenpox in time to face England in the first test which starts at Lord's next week.The 23-year-old, ranked as one of the world's top three test all rounders, went down with a fever shortly after arriving in England from the Twenty20 World Cup and missed the defeat by Essex in a warm-up match which ended on Sunday.
"He'll be back, he'll be okay," Bangladesh's Australian coach Jamie Siddons told Reuters as his young squad dodged the rain showers at a community cricket event in the heart of London's Bengali community in the East End.
"We need him because he and (opening batsman) Tamim Iqbal are the keys to our team as well as Mohammad Ashraful."
With Shakib confined to his sick bed, diminutive wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim will lead Bangladesh against England Lions this week but he knows his country's hopes of testing the newly-crowned Twenty20 world champions at Lord's will depend on the return of their gifted skipper.
"He is recovering very and hopefully he will be fit," he told Reuters. "He is a huge asset for us. He is like the number one all rounder, he bowls, he can bat as long as he wants and also he is a very smart captain.
"Fingers crossed he will be there at Lord's."
Bangladesh also have worries over Tamim Iqbal, who averaged 60 against England in their home test series this year. He missed the first two warm-up matches, prompting a call-up for the uncapped Shamsur Rahman.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Pritha Sarkar; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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