Ex-national cricketer Nafees Iqbal was airlifted to Dhaka from Chattogram for urgent medical treatment on Friday after having suffered an untimely stroke.

Former batter and current logistics manager of the Bangladesh national cricket team, Chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Dr. Debashis Chowdhury, confirmed the development, adding that the stroke was 'minor', reports UNB.

Nafees, 39, represented Bangladesh in 11 Tests and 16 ODIs. A cultured top order batsman, he was never quite able to do justice to his abilities.

He made his Test debut against New Zealand in October 2004, almost a year after an ODI debut against England in November 2003. His lone century in international cricket came in a Test match at home against Zimbabwe in 2005.

Since retiring as a player, Nafees has enjoyed a variety of roles with BCB, at its headquarters in Mirpur or with the team. He was last serving as the team's logistics manager, at the time of his stroke.

Nafees comes from a notable cricketing family of Chattogram. He is the nephew of former national team captain Akram Khan and the elder brother of another former national team captain, Tamim Iqbal.

Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan