Ebadot Hossain eyes comeback in India Tests following ACL injury recovery

Bangladesh pacer Ebadot Hossain is pushing through the gears in his recovery from an ACL injury, with hopes of returning to the field stronger than ever. 

Speaking to reporters today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Ebadot expressed his desire to regain full fitness in time for Bangladesh's upcoming Test series against India.

The pacer, who has been out of action for over a year due to his injury, revealed that he has been bowling at 70-80% intensity for the past one-and-a-half months. 

"I have been bowling for one to one-and-a-half months. Intensity was about 70-80 percent and the trainer has given me a program on how to bowl during the latter half of the program to maintain my fitness. I am hoping to bowl with full intensity in two-three months," Ebadot said.

With Bangladesh set to play two Tests in India in September-October, Ebadot is eager to be part of the squad. He is also eyeing a practice match ahead of the series to assess his fitness for red-ball cricket. 

"My target is to play against India in the two Test matches there. It depends on what the effect of returning with a Test match will be," he said.

"I think we have an opportunity to play a four day match amongst ourselves, so if a get the chance to play there then I can judge myself that how fit I am and if I am up for playing a Test match," he added.

The 29-year-old has 42 wickets in 20 Tests and 22 wickets in 12 ODIs for Bangladesh. Unfortunately, his injury forced him to miss both the ODI and T20I World Cup events. 

"It has been more than a year that I have not been able to play cricket. I missed the one day World cup also missed the T20 world cup. I never thought I would miss the T20 world cup even during the operation.  It was really disappointing that its taking so long because of the major surgery. And the rehab phase was really difficult," he said.

Despite the setbacks, Ebadot is determined to come back stronger. 

"My main aim is to do better than where I had left off so that my standard does not drop. That's my main focus right now," he said.

As Bangladesh's management considers his return for the India Tests, Ebadot remains optimistic about his recovery journey. 

"Management is thinking about this [India Tests] and whether it will be good for me to return in the Test format. And that's what I said too that if I can play a four-day match before the India series then I can judge myself and how fit I am for Tests," he concluded.