Dhaka: Bangladesh chief selector Habibul Bashar has defended the team’s workload management after fast bowler Nahid Rana was dropped from the two-Test series against Australia.
The 23-year-old pacer suffered the injury despite Bangladesh’s “extra cautious” approach to managing his workload, ending hopes of seeing one of the country’s most prolific pacers on their first Test tour of Australia in 23 years.
Bashar insisted that Rana was within the team’s workload management policy throughout the season.
“Nahit Rana was very good at our workload management policy,” Bashar said. “The GPS tracker tells us everything these days, so we decide which matches, how many matches and which series each fast bowler will play. Nahit Rana didn’t play all the matches when Australia toured here in June. He was in both Tests in Australia as per workload management.”
Rana has enjoyed a remarkable year with 44 wickets including four five-wicket hauls. His ability to generate real pace and bounce made him one of Bangladesh’s biggest hopes for the challenging Australian conditions.
The right-arm pacer impressed against Australia during the ODI series in Dhaka in June, before being rested for a single Test against Zimbabwe. He returned for the next ODI series, where he produced the best figures of 6/21 by a Bangladesh fast bowler.
Bashar said the selectors had already taken precautions by resting Rana from the Zimbabwe Test.
Bashar said he was not selected for the Test match against Zimbabwe out of extra caution. “He got injured in the second T20I after playing the first two ODIs, so that was unfortunate. We could have missed him, but the ODIs are part of our push towards the World Cup.
“We also have to remember that he has to bowl enough overs. You can’t sit him out in matches. He has to bowl a certain number of balls to be ready for the match. We had to consider that part as well. His injury was unfortunate; it could have happened in Australia. It’s difficult to keep fast bowlers injury-free.”
The chief selector also dismissed suggestions that Bangladesh had reinstated Rana in the white-ball squad following the Test defeat to Zimbabwe.
According to Bashar, the failure was due to poor batting rather than deficiencies in the bowling department.
“We kept our usual bats in the squad for the Zimbabwe Test. We have our key bowlers but we were extra cautious with them so we rested all of them,” he said.
“We lost the Test because of our batting. We batted very badly. We have bowlers like Epadod Hossain, Khalid Ahmed and Hasan Mahmood who are still Test specialists.
“It’s not about our bowling, it’s about our batting. I don’t think we batted well in Tests, ODIs or T20s on that tour. We certainly didn’t face any external pressure, but the defeat against Zimbabwe was hard to swallow. We have to take responsibility, so you ask certain things. That defeat was hard to accept.”
With Rana unavailable, Bangladesh now rely on Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmood, Khalid Ahmed and Epadod Hossain to carry the pace attack during the two-Test series scheduled to be played in Darwin from August 13-17 and Mackay from August 22-28.
Despite admitting that Rana’s absence will be a big blow, Bashar expressed confidence in the rest of the fast bowlers.
“Nahid has been a great bowler this year. We will be sad that he is not in Australia, but that cannot be the only thing on our mind,” he said.
“We know that Taskin is a fantastic bowler when he is fit. Hasan Mahmood has done well recently, while Khaled and Ebadot have improved over the last few years. We need to move forward with this group.”
Bashar also explained the surprise recall of opener Soumya Sarkar, who has not played a Test match since 2021.
Despite Soumya averaging just 20.22 in seven ODIs and two T20Is this year, he admitted Bangladesh’s lack of experienced Test openers affected the result.
“You could say there was a bit of frustration,” Bashar admitted. “The run-scorers in the National Cricket League are newcomers. Zakir Hasan had played in Tests before, but we felt Soumya had more familiarity with fast bowling.
“None of our players in the pipeline are ready. We have to give the likes of Shipley Aribul Islam and Pridom Kumar another year or two.”
With Soumia’s inclusion, the selectors agreed that the entire left-arm front four of Soumia, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haq and captain Najmul Hossain Shando could leave Bangladesh.
Bashar said the selectors initially wanted to offer right-arm balance to Mahmudul Hasan Joy, but decided to send him in the hope that his recent poor form would restore confidence in South Africa’s tour of Bangladesh A.
“By picking Soumia, we knew we would have more left-handers in the top order,” Bashar said.
“It’s definitely not ideal and that’s why Joy has been slotted into our lineup as a right-arm opener. But his recent performances have been worrying and we felt the team management will not keep him in the playing XI. We hope he returns to form during the South Africa A tour,” he concluded.