Bangladesh name strong pace attack for Pakistan Tests

Dhaka [Bangladesh], August 11 (ANI): Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead a strong Bangladesh squad in their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series against Pakistan.

Bangladesh have named a 16-member squad in the ICC World Test Championship series against Pakistan later this month. The squad will be led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, with five pacers. While the pace bowling unit has a wealth of experience, it will be without Taskin Ahmed for the first Test, as per the ICC.

“We have selected five pacers mindful of the fact that Taskin Ahmed will only play the second Test,” Gazi Ashraf Hossain, Chairman National Selection Panel, said, as quoted by the ICC.

“He has not bowled in a Test since June last year and we have decided to include him in the A Team for the second four-dayer against Pakistan A to get him into the rhythm for longer version matches,” added the chairman.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have played six Test series so far, with Bangladesh yet to win a Test match against the Asian opponents. They managed to draw only one of the 13 Test matches between the two teams.

“The emphasis was on picking our best players for this version,” Hossain said.

“This is a well-balanced squad. The likes of Mushfiqur (Rahim), Mominul (Haque) and Shakib (Al Hasan) have played 216 matches combined and there is no substitute for that kind of experience.”

“Taijul (Islam) and Miraz (Mehidy Hasan) have been leading the spin department for a long time and have over 350 wickets between them. We also expect Shanto (Najmul Hossain), Litton (Kumar Das) and the other batsmen to step up because to be competitive against Pakistan, we will need a team effort,” concluded skipper Hossain.

The first Test begins on August 21, while the second match starts on August 30.

Bangladesh Test squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumar Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed.