Bangladesh name five pacers in Test squad against West Indies eyeing overseas tours

Selectors have named five fast bowlers in the Bangladesh squad for the two-Test series against the West Indies keeping in mind bowlers’ combination for overseas series in the future.

Bangladeshi wickets are more likely to assist spinners, yet the hosts pooled five pacers in the squad also considering the current fitness of the players, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said on Sunday.

The selectors announced an 18-strong squad that includes Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed Chowdhury in the fast bowling battery and four specialist spinners in Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Saif Hassan, Nayeem Hasan.

The Tigers usually play two pacers, sometimes going for just one, in Tests in their backyard. In reality, the final eleven is likely to have two pacers and all four spinners.

On Sunday, Minhajul explained why they chose to include so many pacers in the squad while watching the three-day warm-up match between BCB XI and the Caribbean visitors at Chattogram’s MA Aziz Stadium.

“Both spinners and pace bowlers have to be kept ready in the team. Because we don’t just think of one Test match while creating a pool. We think ahead and keep overseas games in mind. We mostly play spinners on home turf. We balance it out so that the combination remains intact and the bowling standard can be maintained,” he said.

“We’ve included five pacers here as we are playing Tests after a long time and anybody can be down with an injury at any time. You can’t say that their fitness would be the same after a five-day game. We went for so many pacers taking that into account.

“I hope all of them are fit and we can get them in a position in terms of fitness.”

The squad contains too many players to choose from as only two fell out from the 20-man preliminary squad.

“We went for the 18-member squad keeping COVID-19 in mind. We thought about keeping the squad big in case anybody falls sick. Yet those we roped in the team, we did so keeping the Test matches in sight. We wanted to keep those who will not play within the system. So that they can develop by working with and getting used to the team management,” added Minhajul.

Shakib Al Hasan also returned to the fold shrugging off an injury scare after walking off the field without completing his fifth over with a groin injury in the final ODI on Jan 25. However, the Tigers’ talisman returned to training on Saturday after scans revealed no major damage last week.

Bangladesh will have the services of uncapped middle-order batsman Yasir Ali, who averages 51.33 in 51 first-class games including eight centuries. Pacer Hasan Mahmud was called up after making his ODI debut earlier in the series.

The first Test will kick off on Feb 3 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. The second is slated for Feb 11 in Dhaka.

Squad:

Mominul Haque (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Saif Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Ebadat Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.