Not so long ago, there was a time when the Bangladesh selectors had to struggle to form a squad due to the unavailability of sufficient back-up players in the pipe-line.
However, things have changed drastically in the last year or so with a number of youngsters announcing their grand arrival in international cricket. In recent times, the selection panel has had the luxury of replacing any injured or out-of-form cricketer with an exciting youngster or a national discard who is eager to script a comeback to the side.
Bangladesh Cricket Board recently announced the formation of the Elite Players’ Conditioning Camp, comprising 27 cricketers, where almost every single member of the squad possesses the quality to feature for the national side in different formats. Besides the elite players’ camp, the BCB has also formed the High Performance squad recently with the inclusion of some talented youngsters.
And ahead of the upcoming away series’ against South Africa A and Zimbabwe A later this year, national selection panel chief Faruk Ahmed informed that the Bangladesh A squad will be drafted with the inclusion of several cricketers from the HP unit.
“We are going to form the Bangladesh A team by taking players from the HP squad. We will not take players from the elite players’ camp. We want to build a strong A team for both the four-day and limited-over matches in South Africa and Zimbabwe,” Faruk told the media yesterday.
The 49-year old former Bangladesh captain also stated his intention of preparing a genuine Bangladesh A side in order to provide valuable back-up options for the national team in the future.
“The Bangladesh national team have been playing brilliant cricket recently. Earlier, there were times when we had to include quite a few national players in the A team but now we have enough cricketers,” he said.
Faruk added that they will consult with Tigers’ head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who is currently enjoying his vacation, before naming the squad for the two Australia Tests this October. The chief selector also notified that there is a six-seven month gap after the Australia Tests so the time will be utilised to hold the Elite Players’ Conditioning Camp.