The selection charade

Minhajul Abedin, the former Bangladesh batsman, was appointed as the chief national team selector of the Bangladesh Cricket Board on June 22, 2016.

Since his appointment, Bangladesh have seen a total of 56 debuts across three formats, with many of them not playing for long.

20 players have received their Test caps since Minhajul was appointed as chief selector in 2016. Among them, six have not played 10 Tests yet.

Kamrul Islam Rabbi, the first Test debutant during Minhajul’s tenure, played only seven Tests before being axed in 2018. Another seamer, Subashis Roy, was given his debut in 2017, and his last Test to date also came in 2017. He played four Tests before being dropped.

Mosaddek Hossain, considered a bright prospect for Tests due to his brilliant first-class record, has played only three Tests since his debut in 2017. Ariful Haque, who came into the limelight for his power-hitting abilities in the Bangladesh Premier League, got his debut in 2018 before getting axed after playing a couple of Tests. Two left-arm spinners, Sunzamul Islam and Nazmul Islam Apu played only one Test and are nowhere near the current Test setup.

Among others, Sabbir Rahman played only 11 Tests, whereas Mohammad Mithun was dropped after 10.

In their ongoing series against Pakistan, Bangladesh have already given a debut to Yasir Ali Rabbi and are likely to hand out one more. Opener Saif Hasan is likely to miss the second Test, with Mahmudul Hasan Joy or Mohammad Naim likely to come in.

In one-day internationals, 18 players have made their debut since June 2016. Among them, nine have played less than 10 matches before being axed.

Subashis was handed his ODI debut in 2017, and that was his last match for the Tigers. Ariful was also dropped after his first ODI in 2018.

In search of a leg-spinner, Bangladesh gave Tanbir Hyder his ODI debut in 2016, despite the all-rounder being known more in the domestic circuit for his batting credentials. He was axed after only two matches, and so were Abu Hider Rony, Fazle Mahmud, and Abu Jayed Rahi, despite the latter having a five-wicket haul in his two matches.

Apu was dropped after five matches, whereas Sunzamul was axed after three. Najmul Hossain Shanto, thought to be a long-term no. 3 for the Tigers, played only eight matches before getting dropped after the ODI series vs West Indies earlier this year.

Among the 18 debutants in twenty20 internationals during this period, four players have dropped out of contention before their 10th match.

Taijul Islam, Bangladesh’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, has regularly featured in T20I squads but has played only two matches. And with him being dropped for the T20I series against Pakistan, it looks like his T20I career is not likely to bloom. Rahi played only three T20Is before getting dropped, whereas Zakir Hasan played only one. Ariful managed to play nine but could only manage 59 runs in those matches.

All these debuts and a lack of continuity begets whether the selectors know what they want for the national team. For example, they called up Saif, considered a Test specialist, for the T20I series vs Pakistan. Then for the second Test of the series, they brought in Naim, who only has an average of 16 in first-class cricket and has played only six longer-format matches.

Also, the selectors have called up 20 players for the second Test against Pakistan whilst the Tigers had only one reserve player outside their 15-man squad during the T20 World Cup.

All of these suggest a cluelessness throughout the selection process, and if Bangladesh cannot figure out the solution to this charade of selection, they will surely face a hard time going forward.