BCB selectors announced 15 men test squad for tour to West Indies. All rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead the team for playing two tests against resurging West Indies fresh from a series win against Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh has not played test since its inauspicious comprehensive white wash in South Africa. West Indies is the only place from where Bangladesh won the test series abroad off course against a depleted team.
The squad:
Shakib Al Hasan (Captain) ,Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes , Liton Das, Mominul Huq ,Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad , Nasmul Hasan , Mehedi Miraj , Nurul Hasan , Taijul Islam , Rubel Hossain , Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Shafiul Islam and Abu Jayed.
The squad has little surprises. Out of form Sabbir and Soumya are logically not there. Abu Jayed is the only inclusion. Perhaps Mosaddeq could be a better choice over Nurul Hasan for test. He is a solid late middle order batsman and more than useful spinner.
Two lethal weapons of Bangladesh pace attack Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, for different reasons, are not in the squad. With ace pacer Mashrafee not playing test the four men pace attack (Rubel, Shafiur , Kamrul Rabbi and Abu Jayed ) looks ordinary . We are not sure on recent form Shakib, Mehedi Miraj and Taijul also can team up for taking 20 West Indian wickets in tests for making a contest.
West Indies struggling for a long time for forming a strong test squad has started regaining confidence. Young batsmen are maturing. Brathwait, Powell, Hope, Chase and Dowrich are looking good after every innings.
Shanon Gabriel is peaking as a tear away pace bowler keeping it up with West Indies tradition. He is pairing well with experienced Khemar Roach. Left hand fast medium bowler Miguel Cummins is also a good addition to pace attack which also have all rounder Jason Holder contributing. Spin attack manned by Bishoo and Chase should not create much problem for Bangladesh. But one can also be concerned as Bangladesh played Mujib, Nabi and Rashid Khan very poorly off course in T20 series.
Bangladesh is not higher ranked in test than West Indies. The records on tour are also not much impressive. We are sure about the preparation for test series is also very ideal. Bangladesh did not have any head coach for a while. New English coach will not have much time with the team for assessing the strength and weakness of the team or working out right strategy against the opponent. Most of the key players did not play much in longer version domestic cricket. Selectors chose to ignore the prime batsmen topping the batting list in domestic cricket. Many thought Tushar Imran could be given another opportunity for doing justice to his prolific form. Judging the red hot form of Shanon Gabriel even Sahiiar Nafees could be a better choice.
It will all depend on Tamim, Mominul, Mushfique and Mahmuduallah leading the tigers batting. Shakib’s form with the bat does not look great at the moment. I think young Nazmul Hossain is a good choice. He played well in domestic longer version. More than bowling Bangladesh has worries in batting. They have to adjust well and play out of skin for creating contest in test.
Bangladesh pace attack looks thin and weak. Rubel is not an ideal test bowler, Shafiul is in and out of the team for a while. Kamrul Rabbi and Abu Jayed are not much experienced. Why under Courtney Walsh Guidance Taskin could not recover form? How could Mustafiz hide injury that he carried from IPL?
Shakib, Taijul and Mehedi Miraj have to do bulk of bowling and have to take wickets. The reason for taking three wicket keepers Mushfique, Liton and Nurul is not understood. We think justice was not done with Mosaddeq.
Bangladesh will definitely start the series as underdog. With West Indies just winning a test series against strong Sri Lanka Bangladesh would do well if they can salvage at least a drawn test.
BDST: 1056 HRS, JUN 19, 2018
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