BCB announced Squad for the first test against visiting Zimbabwe includes one surprise selection uncapped teenager a leggie Jubair Hossain. The teenager impressed the selector with sterling performance against the visiting Zimbabwean under 19 team. He picked 11 wickets in two matches which are however the only two first class matches Jubair has played.
Among notable omissions in the squad are Batsmen Anamaul Haque and Nasir Hossain, pace bowler Robiul Islam and left-arm spinner Elias Sunny. Star All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan returned to the Test side after he missed the West Indies tour in September because of suspension. Top order batsman Marshall Ayub and medium pacer Shahadat Hossain have also been recalled.
The squad is as follows
Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Shamsur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Shuvagata Hom, Mahmudullah ,Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Al-Amin Hossain and Taijul Islam.
Nasir was going through prolonged lean patch and a few matches out of test duty may assist him in regenerating his form and bounce back all guns blazing. He was growing as a dependable late middle order batsman. But over the 9-10 moths his bat is not talking and even he was not fielding well. Nasir is going to Kolkata with a BCB XI to play against strong Indian regional sides in the Cricket festival. Strong performance may still get a recall for him at the later stage of the series and off course for shorter versions.
Bangladesh has no option but to make a strong start in the series winning the first test .If that happens the sagging morale of the team will achieve the required boost. But the task will not be so easy as many thinking now. Bangladesh has not won much over the last 10 months. Few other off the field matters also impacted upon team chemistry.
Sohag Gazi one of the leading spinners is serving a ban for his suspect bowling action. Al Amin Hossain will be under strict scrutiny during the test and will only play if cleared from a scheduled test in Indian biomechanical institute. Shahadat Hossain as the senior pro will have to lead the bowling attack along with Shafiul Islam. Bangladesh may not go for pace friendly wicket and as such pacers of both teams may find it difficult to influence the series.
On the spin favoring wicket Taijul and Sakib will definitely cause problem will say selecting a teenager leg spinner bowler is a brave decision. He must be in the playing eleven. The rookie bowler is among the endangered species in world cricket. After Waheedul Gani and Alok Kapali Bangladesh could not find a quality test spinner .We hope this teenager not only adds variety in attack but also given required support and assistance to set his feet strongly. Leg spin is a declining art .These days genuine leg spinners are missing in most of the test teams. The memories of greats like Abdul Qadir, Shane Warne, Mustaq Ahmed .and Anil Kumbli appears to be way past. Left Arm Spinners and Off spinners with doosra dominate cricket arena.. Leg spinners can be a bit costly as it can be often difficult for wrist spinners to control line and length. Mushfique will require handling him very carefully if Jubair makes his debut. He should be brought into attack when a new batsman comes at the wicket before he settles and be given right field for him to attack. He will be nervy at the start. So the senior players must give him all encouragement. A leg spinner can always be match winner.
Bangladesh is expected to bat well on home ground against not too devastated Zimbabwean bowling attack. Few players had fitness issues. In test cricket players need to keep fit over five days>teams having upper hands through most of the 15 sessions win. The matches in late October may not see much of a turn. Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rahman must not hurry .Test cricket is not only playing few lovely strokes , scoring twenty thirty runs and throw away the wickets . Leaving balls, choosing strokes and rotating the strikes for building partnership must be the way. Mominul at number three is expected to deliver as usual. Marshal Ayub if in the playing eleven can bat at four, with fifth and sixth slots going to Mushfique and Sakib. Three senior professionals Tamim, Mushfique and Sakib hold the keys for batting success of the team with youngsters rallying around them. Mahmuddullah as all-rounder must have to play his part. At the later part of the West Indies tour he was getting back into form. Taijul, Jubair, Al Amin and Sahahadat/ Rubel / Shafiur will possibly make the team. We still hope that Al Amin gets all cleared. He bowled well in West Indies. It will be really sad if he fails to get through the test.
Bangladesh batting collapsed time and again for not too valid reasons .The batsmen appeared to have panicked. Few players after getting in threw away their wickets playing unnecessary strokes at wrong time on wrong deliveries .This must end. One of the top order batsmen must play long innings around whom others can build innings. If necessary bowling all-rounder Shubhagato Hom can be played to give greater batting depth. Bangladesh must try to bat at least 5 sessions in each innings and score 350 plus in the first innings. Will the bowling options in the home wickets against Zimbabwe it should not be difficult in taking 20 wickets if catches offered are all accepted .
We hope Captain Mushfique will be in his mind and skipper and marshal his resources judiciously and independently. Some of his decisions in matches in West Indies appeared controversial. His decision of putting opponents’ batting after winning the toss on easy paced wickets created additional pressures. Very often his bowling handling was not intelligent. He batted too low down in most matches. In batting crisis him being the inform batsman should have taken more responsibilities. We hope Mushfique learned few lessons from the series of losses which Bangladesh embraced off late .Let us hope tigers tweets at home.
BDST: 1024 HRS, OCT 20, 2014
