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Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Naeem Sheikh are the openers in Bangladesh's squad for the series against Australia as experienced opener Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the series due to a knee injury.

Another opener Liton Das is unable to play due to being next to a sick relative. He left the bio-bubble from Zimbabwe and returned to the country early.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)'s agreement with Cricket Australia (CA) on this series does not allow anyone from outside the bio-bubble to enter the squad anew. After playing in the bio secure zone in Zimbabwe, the Bangladesh team had to return to the country and enter the zone again.

The quarantine of match officials and others concerned in the country has started 10 days before the Australian team set foot in Bangladesh.

So there is a crisis in Bangladesh with options in the opening if anyone gets injured. Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo revealed a possible solution at a virtual press conference on Sunday.

"We thought about is for long time. There is Shakib, he can come up in the opening spot. Mohammad Mithun is back in the team. Although he is a middle order batsman, in this format, he can open if needed, if any opener gets injured. Hopefully, nothing will happen to the openers. But if something happens, we have options” said Domingo

In limited overs cricket, Shakib batted at number three position. In his long international career, he has never opened under any circumstances. Mithun, however, was once an opener in domestic cricket. In international cricket too, he has started innings for Bangladesh in one ODI and three T20Is.