Nahid missed Bangladesh’s recent Test series in Australia because of injury and will not be available for the Afghanistan Test either. Chief selector Habibul Bashar said the young pacer is expected to return to action from October 10.
With Bangladesh facing a busy schedule in the World Test Championship, the selectors are keen to ensure Nahid is fully fit for the upcoming five Tests. Bashar said the team management is particularly looking at using him in Test series in England and South Africa.
“Nahid Rana was certainly part of our discussions. He will be available from the 10th of next month, so he has missed out on the Test match. As you know, we are prioritising Test cricket and our next five Test matches,” Bashar said in a video message.
“The Afghanistan Test and the next four Test matches, including the home Test series against England in January-February, are very important for us. We are prioritising those matches, which is why we want to give Nahid Rana the best possible opportunity to play all of them.”
Taskin has also been rested from the Afghanistan Test as the selectors look to manage his workload ahead of Bangladesh’s World Test Championship commitments.
“We have also rested Taskin Ahmed from this Test match. Since we are prioritising our World Test Championship Tests, we want to have him fully available for the West Indies Test series, which is why he has not been included in this Test,” Bashar said.
The biggest surprise in the squad is the return of wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali Anik. Jaker impressed during Bangladesh A’s tour of South Africa, scoring 94 in one of the matches, which caught the selectors’ attention.
His return means Amit Hasan has been left out of the squad. However, Bashar stressed that Amit remains part of Bangladesh’s future plans, while the selectors want to use Jaker’s experience ahead of important Tests in countries such as England and South Africa.
“Since our upcoming Tests include Afghanistan and, more importantly, the World Test Championship matches against the West Indies, South Africa and England, we need a bit of experience and proven players,” Bashar said.
“Amit Hasan has only just started and he will certainly get opportunities in the future. But for these Test matches, we are thinking about the experienced players who have played before and performed.”
The one-off Test against Afghanistan is scheduled to take place in the UAE from October 9 to 13, although Afghanistan are yet to confirm the venue.
After the Test, Bangladesh are scheduled to play a tri-nation ODI series involving Afghanistan and Zimbabwe later in October.
