The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has recently announced their squad for their soon-to-come tour of Pakistan, which also includes the presence of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
Shakib has previously confirmed his availability for the test series against Pakistan. However, his participation has been facing some controversy due to his involvement in political affairs. As a former member of Parliament with Awami League, Shakib had to face a lot of criticism from his fans who were unhappy by his return to the national team.
The controversy related to Shakib got more intense because he was silent during the anti-quota student protests, which later on evolved into a widespread movement making a contribution to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.
The Chairman of selection panel, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, discussed the process behind choosing this squad for the upcoming Test series. He put emphasis on how the panel’s focus was on selecting the best available player for the team. Hossain put light on the fact that their goal was to ensure that the team was prepared well, and was composed of the most capable players for the series.
“The emphasis was on picking our best players for this version. This is a well-balanced squad. The likes of Mushfiqur (Rahim), Mominul (Haque) and Shakib (Al Hasan) have played 216 matches combined and there is no substitute for that kind of experience. Taijul (Islam) and Miraz (Mehidy Hasan) have been leading the spin department for a long time and have over 350 wickets between them. We also expect Shanto (Najmul Hossain), Litton (Das) and the other batters to step up because to be competitive against Pakistan, we will need a team effort,” Ashraf said.
Taking in consideration of the conditions, Bangladesh has opted to include a higher number of pace ballers than usual. Taskin Ahmed who recently returned to fitness, is a part of squad, though he will only join in the seconf Test.
“We have selected five pacers mindful of the fact that Taskin Ahmed will only play the second Test. He hasn’t bowled in a Test since June last year and we have decided to include him in the A Team for the second four-dayer against Pakistan A to get him into the rhythm for longer version matches. Also, a couple of the pacers may join the A Team for the one-day matches and therefore we needed backups. Our attack has variety with bowlers who ca
n bowl fast and also swing the ball and I am really looking forward to seeing them perform against world-class batters,” Ashraf added.
