‘Challenging’ conditions shape Test squad

‘challenging’ conditions shape test squad0

As the Bangladesh team for the one and only test match against Afghanistan, which will take place in Dhaka beginning on June 14, it was confirmed yesterday that Liton Das would make his debut as Test captain, stepping in for Shakib Al Hasan, who is unable to play due to an injury.

Mushfik Hasan, a pacer who recently competed against West Indies A and showed promise, and Shahadat Hossain Dipu, a batter who has never been capped, have both been selected by the selectors. While everything was going on, Zakir Hasan made a full recovery from his injury and Mahmudul Hasan Joy was kept on as a member of the team. Joy’s performance against West Indies A in the third day of the four-day match at Sylhet, when he scored an unbeaten century, will give Zakir Hasan a boost of confidence.

The selection that was made by Chandika Hathurusingha, who is also the head coach, was intended to be an offensive one, and the fact that there were five pacers in the lineup lends support to the concept of an offensive selection strategy.

Even though the team management was aware of Afghanistan’s spin-threat, the Tigers’ first Test match against Afghanistan in Chattogram in 2019 was a loss by 224 runs, which inflicted major woes. As a result, BCB president Nazmul Hassan hinted that he was going to investigate what went wrong in the strategical setup of the game.

The controversy arose when the Tigers did not include a specialist pacer in their batting line-up for the match, despite the fact that the ground was favorable for spin bowling, which gave Afghanistan an advantage. In spite of the fact that the Mirpur course is not often favorable to pacers, this time there would be the option to try for other circumstances.

People living in cities, people living in other parts of the country, and the management of the team are all concerned about the issue of rising temperatures. This is a huge obstacle. Since the side strain injury that forced pacer Taskin Ahmed to miss the Ireland Test that took place recently, he has been going through rehabilitation.

Due to the fact that their star pacer was still in the process of getting well, the management of the squad decided against taking any risks in terms of having enough people participating in the pace assault. As a result, Taskin was chosen to serve as a backup option.

“We are happy with the pace strength,” Chief Selector Minhajul Abedin told The Daily Star yesterday.

Because of the severe heat in which we will be playing, this series is shaping up to be a difficult one. Additionally, the wicket is shaping up to be rather difficult. Therefore, it is my sincere wish that our team’s players would perform admirably. Afghanistan is a formidable opponent, and they will be tested to their limits in this next match.

The pace attack for Bangladesh is comprised of Khaled Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Ebadot Hossain, in addition to the two spinners Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam that the team selected.

Taskin, Ebadot, and Khaled were bowling at a different net against players such as Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Najmul Hossain yesterday while Allan Donald was working closely with the speed group. Given that just two spinners have been chosen, the training would have to be done, and there would be a pressing need to strengthen the arsenal of the pacers given the limited number of spinners available.

Chandika, who had arrived the day before, attended the practice yesterday and supervised the hitters as they worked. She concentrated her attention on Tamim for the bulk of the left-hander’s net session as preparations ramped up.

more insights