Bangladesh national cricket team’s chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu said they formed a strong team for a two-match Test series against Zimbabwe in a bid to end their win-drought at home venue.
Despite enjoying a good run in Test format since March 2021, Bangladesh didn’t win any Test match at home venue in the last 15 months. That’s the reason Ashraf and Co. weren’t willing to take any risk against Zimbabwe despite the side’s clear upper hand over the visitors.
“We are quite worried about our performance in the last year,” Ashraf said in a video message sent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) today. “That’s the reason we are trying to play Zimbabwe with our best possible team."
Bangladesh won eight and lost seven in 15 meetings against Zimbabwe while the rest of the three matches ended in a draw.
Zimbabwe last came to Bangladesh in 2020 and experienced a whitewash. Then in 2021, Bangladesh visited Zimbabwe and won the series quite comprehensively.
But Bangladesh won the last Test against New Zealand on home soil after the 2023 World Cup. After that, the Tigers, as it was adorably called, played two series against Sri Lanka and South Africa at home and were swept in both of the series.
“We formed a strong team with a mix of experience and youth,” Ashraf said. Taskin Ahmed is not in the team due to injury and Liton Das was unavailable for selection as he was granted NOC for the full season of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Bangladesh squad included three openers, three spinners, and four pacers. The chief selector said that they kept one player extra in each section keeping the concussion issue in mind.
“Since the concussion, the idea of like-for-like replacement (same type of cricketer) has been going around, so we have an extra opener, one in the middle order, one in spin, and we have one extra seamer in pace bowling,” he explained.
In the absence of Liton Das, Zaker Ali Anik or Mahidul Islam Ankon are likely to bat at number six or seven. Although both are comparatively new in Test cricket Ashraf feels that the management will have a difficult time deciding who to play.
"There is a sweet problem here with Liton Das not being at 6 or 7,” Ashraf said.
“It will be more challenging to pick one between the two. Besides, we have many options in spin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is there as an all-rounder, Taijul and Nayeem are the spin specialists, so there is option in the spin department,” he added.
“Although Taskin was not here due to injury, we have four pacers, there will be options in the pace department too,” he said.
Source: BSS
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