Bangladesh cricketers have started preparing in earnest for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe, attending personal practice session at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
Top-order batsmen Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque were seen sweating it out in the nets under the supervision of local coach Mohammad Salahuddin at Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Academy Ground.
Batsman Mohammad Mithun and pacer Al Amin Hossain were also part of the session.
However, the highlight of the training session was the presence of Tigers head coach Russell Domingo and pace bowling coach Ottis Gibson in the sidelines.
Following their arrival in Dhaka Saturday evening, @ZimCricketv wicketkeeper-batsman @BrendanTaylor86 said they will put up a tough challenge for host @BCBtigers in the upcoming series later this month.https://t.co/6OxHqLyJ44#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #BANGLADESHCRICKET #CRICKET
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 15, 2020
The occasion is the first in a long time Salahuddin was seen alongside coaches of the national team during training.
Following his differences with former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, Salahuddin had kept himself away from national team training in the presence of the coaching staff.
“Probably he [Salahuddin] joined them at the insistence of the senior cricketers. We have not started the national camp yet and if the coaching staff is fine with him around than we don’t have any problems with that,” said Bangladesh Cricket Board cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan to the media Saturday.
Salahuddin’s presence in training surprised many who were present in the ground but not Mithun, who explained why that was the case.
@BCBtigers are likely to be without the services of both Soumya Sarkar and Al-Amin Hossain for the one-off Test match against @ZimCricketv later this month, reports the International Cricket Council.https://t.co/4PZGNaKGoG#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #BANGLADESH #CRICKET #ZIMBABWE
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 14, 2020
“Tamim bhai, Sourav [Mominul] and a few others worked personally with Salahuddin sir. It’s been only six-seven months since Domingo has arrived. And Salahuddin sir has seen them almost for 10 years now. And so, they were discussing with him (Salahuddin) what will be right and wrong for them,” Mithun said in an effort to enlighten the media.
The national selection panel is likely to announce the squad for the Zimbabwe series Sunday.
The African nation reached the capital yesterday evening for a full-fledged series comprising a solitary Test match, three ODIs and two T20Is.