Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Chief Selector Habibul Bashar on Monday said Nahid Rana's appearance in the T20I series against Zimbabwe was part of a workload management plan designed to keep the fast bowler match-ready ahead of the Australia Tests, describing his injury as "unfortunate" rather than avoidable.

Nahid suffered a side strain during the second T20I in Bulawayo and has since been ruled out of the two-Test series in Australia, raising questions over whether he should have played in Zimbabwe.

Bashar said Bangladesh's medical and performance staff monitored the workload of all fast bowlers through GPS data rather than relying on subjective assessments.

"Workload management is not just something we talk about anymore," he told reporters. "Every movement is tracked through GPS, and that data helps determine how many matches a player should play. The same process applies to Nahid, Taskin and all our fast bowlers."

He said Bangladesh had already managed Nahid's workload during the home series against Australia by resting him from the Test matches after he featured in two One-Day Internationals and two T20Is.

"According to the workload data and the physio's assessment, he was fit to play Test cricket," Bashar said. "But because the Australia series is important, we took extra precautions and did not play him in those Tests."

He said keeping a fast bowler out of matches for too long can also increase the risk of injury.

"We classify bowlers into red, yellow and green zones," the chief selector said. "Bowling too much can push a player into the red zone, but bowling too little also creates risk. To stay in the green zone, a fast bowler needs to maintain a certain workload."