Bangladesh would heave a sigh of relief as pacer Shoriful Islam has passed the fitness test ahead of the Test series against Australia.

Bangladesh Cricket Board officials confirmed the development to Cricbuzz on Tuesday (August 11).

Sources confirmed that Shoriful, who will miss the opening Test due to a hamstring injury sustained during the tour of Zimbabwe in July, is flying out soon to be available for the second Test.

“He (Shoriful) passed the fitness test as he was recovering from an injury and now he is fit to play,” Shahriar Nafees, BCB’s cricket-operation in-charge, told Cricbuzz on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh fielding coach Ashiqur Rahman said that they were happy with the progress of Litton Kumar Das, who is recovering from an injury aheadof the first Test against Australia in Darwin. The wicketkeeper-batter took part in the team’s slip-catching and wicketkeeping drills on Tuesday

“You saw Litton taking slip catches and keeping wickets, and his movement was very good. Alhamdulillah,” Ashiqur told reporters after the training session.

Litton did not take part in the team’s batting session on Tuesday, but he was involved in football and fielding activities as Bangladesh continued their preparations for the opening Test, scheduled to begin at Marrara Cricket Ground on Thursday (August 13).

The 31-year-old’s fitness remains an important consideration for Bangladesh ahead of the two-match series, with the team management closely monitoring his recovery.

Ashiqur added that his players needed to work hard on their concentration, which is the key to being a good fielding unit.

“The biggest thing is to maintain concentration. In longer-version cricket, the ball does not come for a long time, but when one comes, you have to take that one,” said Ashiqur.

“In longer-version cricket, turning a half-chance into a full chance is the players’ main goal. Our players are alert to this. We are working on this, on how concentration can be increased,” he said.

“Our players are mentally prepared to fight in the Test,” he added.