Publish : 01 Dec 2021, 04:33 PMUpdate : 29 Dec 2021, 04:34 PM
Hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan team returned to Dhaka Wednesday for the final phase of the bilateral series.
The two teams will face each other in the second and final Test of the series, set to start at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Saturday.
Bangladesh national selection panel, maintaining its home series trend declared a new squad for the game.
The squad triggered wide discussion for its size – involving 20 cricketers, which includes four openers.
But it was rather the selection of left-handed opener Mohammad Naim, who received a maiden call-up in the Test fold, which took the center of discussions in the cricket fraternity and social media.
Naim last played a first-class match 21 months ago on February 10, 2020.
Interestingly, he has only six first-class games in his kitty where he batted in 11 innings and scored just 183 runs at an average of 16.6.
His highest score was 65.
With so little experience and exposure in red-ball cricket, his sudden inclusion in the national Test side did raise questions on the selection process.
There are opinions going around that the selectors should have thought of an established batsman in longer-version cricket.
Chief of the national selection panel Minhajul Abedin told the media that it is better to have a cricketer with recent international experience rather than having someone come fresh from the domestic circuit.
“We also know he doesn’t play much longer version cricket but we need to admit the difference between our domestic and international cricket. Naim has been part of the national unit for a long time now,” said Minhajul Wednesday.
Naim emerged in the international circuit in November 2019 through T20 international and was then handed debut in one-day international in March 2020.
The opening batsman till date has played two ODIs and 13 T20Is.
“He [Naim] might have played limited overs cricket but he has been regular part of the national practice setup. He is facing balls at high pace both in the game and in the nets which is not available in our domestic cricket. We thought it will not be right to suddenly bring someone from the domestic circuit and get them to face bowlers like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali,” said Minhajul.
Explaining the size of the squad, Minhajul informed that the squad is not only for the second Test against Pakistan but also for the tour of New Zealand.
The Test against Pakistan is scheduled to end next Wednesday and the team are scheduled to take flight to New Zealand the next day for a two-match Test series.
Because of the Covid-19 protocol there is no option for the team to include a new member just ahead of the flight.
“Actually, this is not the squad for only Pakistan Test, this squad will tour New Zealand too. We need to keep the cricketers in the bio-safety bubble before they take the flight to New Zealand on December 9,” said Minhajul.
“Around 17 or 18 cricketers from this group will travel to New Zealand. So, they need to practice. See the number of pacers we have included in the squad. Do we keep so many fast bowlers in a squad when playing at home? We have included them because of the New Zealand tour. We will have two practice matches there alongside the Tests. So we had to consider everything before declaring this squad,” the former Bangladesh captain explained.
Chief selector explains reasoning behind Naim inclusion
Hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan team returned to Dhaka Wednesday for the final phase of the bilateral series.
The two teams will face each other in the second and final Test of the series, set to start at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Saturday.
Bangladesh national selection panel, maintaining its home series trend declared a new squad for the game.
The squad triggered wide discussion for its size – involving 20 cricketers, which includes four openers.
But it was rather the selection of left-handed opener Mohammad Naim, who received a maiden call-up in the Test fold, which took the center of discussions in the cricket fraternity and social media.
Naim last played a first-class match 21 months ago on February 10, 2020.
Interestingly, he has only six first-class games in his kitty where he batted in 11 innings and scored just 183 runs at an average of 16.6.
His highest score was 65.
With so little experience and exposure in red-ball cricket, his sudden inclusion in the national Test side did raise questions on the selection process.
There are opinions going around that the selectors should have thought of an established batsman in longer-version cricket.
Chief of the national selection panel Minhajul Abedin told the media that it is better to have a cricketer with recent international experience rather than having someone come fresh from the domestic circuit.
“We also know he doesn’t play much longer version cricket but we need to admit the difference between our domestic and international cricket. Naim has been part of the national unit for a long time now,” said Minhajul Wednesday.
Naim emerged in the international circuit in November 2019 through T20 international and was then handed debut in one-day international in March 2020.
The opening batsman till date has played two ODIs and 13 T20Is.
“He [Naim] might have played limited overs cricket but he has been regular part of the national practice setup. He is facing balls at high pace both in the game and in the nets which is not available in our domestic cricket. We thought it will not be right to suddenly bring someone from the domestic circuit and get them to face bowlers like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali,” said Minhajul.
Explaining the size of the squad, Minhajul informed that the squad is not only for the second Test against Pakistan but also for the tour of New Zealand.
The Test against Pakistan is scheduled to end next Wednesday and the team are scheduled to take flight to New Zealand the next day for a two-match Test series.
Because of the Covid-19 protocol there is no option for the team to include a new member just ahead of the flight.
“Actually, this is not the squad for only Pakistan Test, this squad will tour New Zealand too. We need to keep the cricketers in the bio-safety bubble before they take the flight to New Zealand on December 9,” said Minhajul.
“Around 17 or 18 cricketers from this group will travel to New Zealand. So, they need to practice. See the number of pacers we have included in the squad. Do we keep so many fast bowlers in a squad when playing at home? We have included them because of the New Zealand tour. We will have two practice matches there alongside the Tests. So we had to consider everything before declaring this squad,” the former Bangladesh captain explained.
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