Because Bangladesh are unwilling to move Afif Hossain from the number four position in the shortest format, they are contemplating playing Mushfiqur Rahim at the top of their batting order in the forthcoming Asia Cup.
Anamul Haque and Parvez Hossain have been chosen by Bangladesh to begin the batting for their 17-man team. However, Bangladesh will be without the services of their regular opener Liton Kumar Das because he has been ruled out due to injury.
The team management is well aware of Soumya Sarkar and Nayeem Sheikh’s inability to perform well against spinners, which is one of the reasons why they did not choose either of those players to be the other opener. In the group phase, they will compete against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, both of which feature strong spin bowling attacks.
Cricbuzz has it on good authority that the team’s administration is planning to meet with Mushfiqur within the next couple of days in order to brief him on their intention to promote him to the top of the order.
On Sunday (August 14), Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud informed Cricbuzz that they are seriously considering promoting Mushfiqur at the top given his extensive experience in coping with both pace and spin. Mushfiqur has the ability to handle both pace and spin. The veteran, who is making a comeback to the Twenty20 set up, has only opened in one Twenty20 International game so far in his career, and that game was against Afghanistan in a tri-series match at home, when he made only 5.
“We are contemplating about promoting Mushfiqur at the top in the Asia Cup because he is extremely experienced in handling spin and pace, and we feel that he can be a very excellent choice,” said Mahmud. “The reason for this is that we feel he can be a very good alternative.” “We could have chosen Nayeem and Soumya, but we didn’t because we didn’t think they were very good at handling spin. Instead, we went with someone else. There is a chance that Parvez may play, but first we need to determine whether or not he can compete against spinners like Mujeeb or Rashid.
“If we think that Mushfiqur is the best option, we might go with him, and I believe that it can be a good move for him as well considering that he will be getting 120 balls, and if he gets going from the start we are likely to post a large total on the board,” the captain said. “I think it can be a good move for him as well considering that he will be getting 120 balls.”
This past Monday. In spite of Mahmud’s insistence that Afif will be given a chance at the number 4 slot, it appears that Mushfiqur’s ascension to the top spot is rapidly approaching. Mahmud stated to the reporters, “We will give him (Afif) an opportunity there” (at number four in the T20s). “We have Afif in mind for a particular part, and he is quite the force of nature. I have the impression that he has a great deal of self-assurance. He has performed extremely well in the most recent two series, and he has even batted effectively in the ODIs. Because Afif represents our future, we are eager to promote him to his current position.
“The most important thing is that he is attacking, and we want that in our team. He is turning out to be a significant player for Bangladesh, and it is our obligation to give him the opportunity he deserves,” said the coach.
