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Bangladesh national cricket team will now turn their focus to red-ball cricket following their 2-1 series win over India in the One-Day Internationals as the first Test between the sides of the two-match series begins on Wednesday.
After almost seven months, Bangladesh will play a Test at home as the last Test was against Sri Lanka in May. Their last five Tests at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium are not that impressive as they have won only one, losing three and drawing the other.
Bangladesh do not have a great record against India in Tests as they have lost seven out of nine, with no wins and two draws in rain-affected matches.
As the Tigers search for their first win against their neighbours, they have a few injury concerns to make the team selection difficult for the team management. Tamim Iqbal was already out earlier, and head coach Russell Domingo confirmed that pacer Taskin Ahmed, who has been a crucial part of Bangladesh’s ever-improving pace attack, will not be taking part in the Chattogram Test.
“We are not going to risk Taskin in the first Test. He has come off a layoff and a few injections. To get him to bowl for a day and a half in these conditions in Chattogram is maybe not good for him,’ the Bangladesh head coach said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Bangladesh faced a huge injury worry on Tuesday morning as skipper Shakib Al Hasan was taken to the hospital following a rib injury suffered during the ODI series.
But the left-handed all-rounder, later in the day, batted in the nets and Domingo said that Shakib would undergo a fitness test before the match begins.
“We are still assessing him. We will make a call later in the afternoon. We hope he is okay. He is still struggling with his ribs and shoulder. Hopefully, he can go through hitting some balls now,” the Bangladesh head coach said.
Bangladesh will likely have a debutant in their XI as Zakir Hasan, who had a fantastic domestic season and then struck a brilliant 173 against India A for Bangladesh A, is set to open the innings in Tamim’s absence.
“I have been very excited by (Zakir). He has good energy. I know he has done it domestically. He has played a T20I for Bangladesh. I like the way he looks to score when he bats. A little bit Tamim-like in the way he bats. Nice and positive. Hopefully, he can get off to a good, quick start tomorrow,” Domingo said.
Nurul Hasan Sohan will feature in the first Test as the wicketkeeper, meaning Liton Das will be playing only as
a batter.
“Sohan was fantastic in the West Indies. He has the right character. Good keeper. Gives us a good competitive edge behind the stumps. Very vocal. Thoroughly deserves his place. I am backing Sohan as a keeper in the Test side. He is the one batter averaging 40 in the Test side, but he has done well. He will keep tomorrow,” Domingo said.
Ahead of the match, the Bangladesh head coach was confident of his side to push India to the edge in the series.
“We have lost Tests but in terms of the competitive nature, I think there have been some big improvements in it. We know we are up against a really good India side in conditions that are not unfamiliar with. We try to win every series. It is a home series so my expectation is for us to be competitive. We want to take the game to the fifth day.
“Realistically we have got a chance to beat them if we play really well. We have done it for periods of time in the Test series in the last year but not for long enough. We know it’s a tough series, but I expect us to push India really hard in this series,” the head coach said on Tuesday.
On the other side, India are also in a state of bother with injuries as their regular skipper Rohit Sharma is missing out on the first Test, and KL Rahul will deputise for him in Chattogram.
