Why Naim, again?

Mohammad Naim’s inclusion in the Asia Cup team was a surprise, but his failure at Sharjah against Afghanistan was not. The left-handed opener was brought back to the Twenty20 team after more than five months and he proved why he was dropped.

Naim was the first batsman to get dismissed when Bangladesh met Afghanistan. The left-hander failed to reach the ball due to his poor footwork, and the ball rattled the stumps. He was out for five runs from eight balls.

Bangladesh is not a very good side in T20. Admitting the fact, the Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan appointed technical consultant Sridharan Sriram just days before the Asia Cup. The BCB president and the team director Khaled Mahmud often talked about making a new start with some experiments in the T20 format with a fresh approach, but against Afghanistan, it was the same old Bangladesh.

Taking Naim back in the team and sending him to open the innings for Bangladesh clearly stated that nothing has changed. From the beginning of 2021, Naim has been the first-choice opening batsman as Tamim Iqbal was unavailable. He played 16 T20I matches before the ICC T20 World Cup but was dropped in the opening game against Scotland, which Bangladesh lost. Then he went on to play all the remaining matches of the World Cup and even more as he played in the home series against Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But his poor showing throughout the past year (350 runs in 18 matches, strike rate 94.59, average 19.44) cost Naim his place, but suddenly he was brought back after six months despite doing nothing significant.

Most importantly, Naim hasn’t played any T20 match before being called back to the national team and was included after middle-order batsman and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan Sohan was ruled out due to injury along with pacer Hasan Mahmud.

Instead of picking likewise players, the selectors chose Naim, who failed to prove himself in the international arena after playing 34 T20Is in the last three years. The team management’s fetish for Naim was also visible when they sent him to Zimbabwe for the third One-Day International of the series after losing the first two, though Naim did not play.

Naim was sent to the West Indies with the A team to play in the unofficial One-Day series. In three matches, his scores were 0, 103, and 3. Maybe the hundred and the helicopter dance celebration lured somebody to call him back to the team, and he stayed in Dubai for the Asia Cup.

Rajin Saleh, a former Bangladesh captain who went to the West Indies as a part of the coaching staff, watched Naim’s batting closely. He told The Business Post that the innings was nothing extraordinary.

“I was at the ground when he scored that hundred against West Indies A team at Gros Islet. It was nothing special, a good knock that helped the team. But not something to cherish. Maybe he batted around 70-80 strike rate (103 of 116, Strike rate 88.79). He did not even play very aggressively or hit many big shots. It was an OK innings,” Rajin said on Wednesday.

Even the bowling attack of the West Indies A team was not so strong, said Rajin.

“Their bowling attack, I should say, was not very strong because only a handful had international experience, and that too for a small stint. They were tall and giving bouncers, but that is what you expect playing in the West Indies. In terms of swing or movement, the bowlers were not unplayable,” said the former cricketer.

Before leaving the country, team director Khaled Mahmud said that the team management is thinking about makeshift openers as regular openers are failing to give a good start. Even Mushfiqur Rahim’s name came into consideration, along with Shak Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan.

But the jaw-dropping decision of sending Naim along with Anamul, who played just six T20I matches since his comeback to the national team, was a shock, especially when Shakib decided to bat first against the Afghans, who had just demolished Sri Lanka 48 hours ago.

Taking Naim back in the team is surely not the selectors’ call as they omitted him while announcing the initial squad. It is not Russel Domingo’s call as he is not with the team, not even Sriram’s call because he just saw him for two days.

So, who brought him back and sent him to open the innings when the team director wanted makeshift openers? If Parvez Hossain and Aanamul were the first-choice pair, who pushed Parvez back and brought Naim to the front row?

At this moment, the top brass of the BCB is in Dubai, and there must be someone among them who is very biased towards Naim, and that’s why he keeps getting picked despite failures after failures.