Bangladesh won 3 out of 5 Twenty20 International games against Zimbabwe. But two players, Parvez Hossain Emon and Afif Hossain, didn’t get to play any match in the series. They were not picked for the last two games.
The team decided to bring in Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar instead. Shakib hasn’t played T20I for 10 months.
The team is getting ready for the T20 World Cup. They made choices based on who they think will be best for the team.
For pacers Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur “Fizz” Rahman, workload management was prioritized, with the Tigers slated to depart soon for the USA to play a series against the hosts before they begin their World Cup campaign in Dallas. While Shoriful was “rested” for the rest of the Zimbabwe series, Mustafizur, who had enjoyed a few days’ rest following return from Indian Premier League, was included in his place.
“Shoriful has been rested to give time to his family and we did that before with Mustafizur when he returned from India. Shoriful had been playing high-intensity matches for a while and also played Premier League matches. He is getting time off to recharge himself. We discussed with Mustafizur on whether he wanted to play first and then rest or if he wanted to take a break first before playing the series. He opted for the latter,” Razzak informed.
Some players are dealing with injuries. Soumya and Mohammad Saifuddin are being looked after. They talked with the coach about their plans for the future.
Shakib is focusing on switching from one-day to T20Is. His experience will be valuable for the team.
There’s a challenge with too many left-handed batters in the team. The team needs to find the right balance.
Apart from injuries, the other problem Tigers would face is the presence of left-handed batters in the top-order. Along with Soumya and Shakib, there is Tanzid Hasan and skipper Najmul Hossain, who are all likely to play at the top. Combinations would be crucial to the Tigers’ plans as opponents would look to capitalise on such a heavy presence of left-handers at the top.
There are only a few shake-ups available to the Tigers in terms of their 15-member squad. In the end, the assessment of wickets in the USA and West Indies would also be key in picking between extra spinners and pacers as left-arm orthodox spinner Tanvir Islam and pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib await their World Cup ticket.
