Wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das has been in and out of Bangladesh’s squad for months with a lingering injury.

Chief selector Habibul Bashar Sumon broke down the full timeline at a press conference on Monday.

“Regarding Litton, right from the start, when Litton first played and got injured against Australia in the One Day International, if you look at it, he was also in the T20 series. At that time, the diagnosis was that it’s a calf muscle injury, but nothing too serious,” Bashar said.

“But when he couldn’t play in the T20s, a further scan was done, and a grade 1 tear was found. Usually, with the kind of tear he had, medical advice says that it shouldn’t take more than three weeks. Those three weeks were completed within June itself. So then, during the T20s, the discussion was that since there was doubt, and the Test match was important, he should be sent to rehab so he could be ready,” he explained.

The former Bangladesh captain went on to defend the medical department’s handling of the case, pointing out that the scans consistently failed to show any fresh damage even as Litton continued to complain of discomfort.

“I can’t really blame the medical department here, because when the scans came in, they showed the same thing that was initially found. Somehow Litton’s pain wasn’t going away. Even when we did further assessment here, nothing new came up,” he noted.

“Then we pulled him out of the Test match. In the ODI, he was cleared on the basis of being okay, but even then he was complaining of pain. Whether this is a mistake by the medical department, I can’t say, because the scans didn’t find anything. They went by the evidence, and the evidence didn’t show anything, and on that basis, Litton was cleared,” he added.

The chief selector said that the most recent scan, conducted in Singapore, showed swelling rather than a tear, and stressed the need for a more cautious approach going forward.

“Then, as you know, another scan was done later. Repeatedly, the scans didn’t show anything further. The most recent scan, done in Singapore, showed swelling, not a tear. He might be fine now, but he needs to go through a proper process, since repeatedly going through this is actually making him more prone to being unfit,” Bashar concluded.