Nafees Iqbal suffers brain stroke, airlifted to Dhaka

Former Bangladesh cricket team batsman and current national team logistics manager, Nafees Iqbal has been airlifted from Chattogram to Dhaka via an air ambulance after he suffered a brain stroke on Friday morning.

Bangladesh Cricket Board BCB’s chief physician, Debashish Chowdhury, confirmed Nafees’s condition and said, “Nafees has had a minor stroke. He is being brought to Dhaka from Chattogram by air ambulance. He will be admitted to Bangladesh Specialized Hospital in Dhaka. He is expected to arrive by 4pm.”

The 39-year-old cricketer played 11 Test matches and 16 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Bangladesh. He has one century and two fifties in Test cricket, and two fifties in ODIs. His first-class career includes 120 matches, and he played 112 List A games. Nafees made his Test debut against New Zealand in October 2004.

His ODI debut was earlier, against England in November 2003. His last ODI appearance was in the memorable victory against Australia in Cardiff in 2005. He played his final Test in 2006 against Sri Lanka in Bogura.

However, injuries cut short his career.

Nafees is the nephew of former national team captain Akram Khan and the elder brother of another former captain, Tamim Iqbal. Since 2022, he has been serving as the national team’s logistics manager after previously being the team manager.