Bangladesh national cricket team are gearing up to start their new home season with the solitary Test against Afghanistan which is set to be played from September 05, reports UNB.
Selectors are busy sorting out the final squad for this match. The biggest problem they are facing is to find a replacement for Tamim Iqbal who is currently out of action.
Tamim failed to live up to the expectation during the World Cup. Right after that, he continued to struggle against Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series, where Bangladesh suffered a clean sweep.
Despite the bad patch in white-ball cricket, Tamim hit three fifties in his last five Test innings. So it is really tough for the Tigers' selectors to find a replacement for him in the Test against Afghanistan.
"Tamim is our regular opener, but he is not playing in this series. He is a proven performer for us.
In the last three Tests, Shadman (Islam) was Tamim's partner. But we are yet to decide who will be Shadman's partner in the forthcoming Test.
We are discussing whether we would play a young talent or go for a more experienced player," BCB selector and former captain of the national team Habibul Bashar on Monday told the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
"In the last three Tests, Shadman did well. But he is still very young.
When Tamim was in the side, Shadman did not feel any pressure. So we are yet to finalise who will accompany Shadman now.
This is the main reason why we are taking much time to announce the squad," he added.
In the meantime, Habibul praises pace-bowling coach Charl Langeveldt for his eagerness to develop a good bunch of the pacers who could be able to perform well abroad.
The former captain said: "If we want to win Tests abroad, we need to have a good bunch of the pace-bowlers. We realised it before.
Now, Langeveldt is working hard on it. When we play at home, spinners do the main job.
But when it comes to the matches abroad, we need wicket-taking pace-bowlers.
The new coach is interested to work with the all pace-bowlers who are in the national team and high-performance unit."
Later this week, BCB will announce the squad for Afghanistan Test.
They might include more than 14 members in the squad so that the extra three or four players can hone their skills being included in the national side, said Habibul.
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