|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh remains in dilemma over their choice of wicket as they head towards port city for their one-off Test match against Afghanistan, scheduled to start at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

While Bangladesh Cricket Board cricket operation chairman announced that it will be pace-friendly wicket, selectors think otherwise.

According to them trying to prepare a pace friendly wicket might be a boomerang considering it is not the tried and tested formula for the host.

‘’I think if we need to understand our strength and prepare the wicket accordingly and whether keeping too much grass will be beneficial need to be considered,’’ Minhajul told Cricfrenzy when his attention was drawn about the wicket for the one-off Test against Afghanistan on Thursday.

The observation came despite the fact the host will have to face the spin threat of Rashid-led Afghanistan, who are expected to give their best with their slow bowling option.

‘’We have got some genuine spinners in our side and thinking too much about them won’t bring much benefit while I am confident that we have a good batting line-up so it’s wise to play to our strength,’’ he added.   

Spin attack, more specifically traditional spin attack has been the most common mantra for Bangladesh in Test cricket especially when they play at their home and there are many instance that suggest they are not too keen to change their mind-set.

According to sources whether Bangladesh will play two seam bowlers is yet to be decided and if that is the case there is a possibility that Soumya Sarkar will bowl few overs with the new ball.

The finger injury of Mehedi Hasan is a spot of bother for the host but despite everything host are keen to play in a relatively spin friendly wicket considering they can have the service of experienced left-arm duo Shakib al Hasan and Taijul Islam along with relatively new          off-spinner Nayeem Hasan.    

In 2017 when Bangladesh won their first Test match against mighty Australia, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam were the ones who successfully came out doing all the trickery. In the first match that Bangladesh won by 20 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, the spin trio picked all 20 Aussie wickets while Shakib contributed with 10. On the other side, Nathan Lyon right-arm Aussie spinner also took 9 wickets. And in the second Test that Bangladesh lost by 7 wickets, Lyon took 13 wickets alone for Australia.

And it was almost the same scenario against England a year before that when Mehedy and Shakib picked up 9 wickets and Taijul was picking up the other one at Sher-e-Bangla in the first innings. And Mehedy’s six wicket haul in the second innings saw him picking up a total of 12 wickets in his second Test match of his international career. Bangladesh spinners were also successful in the first Test with Medehi’s six wickets in the first innings and Shakib’s fifer in the second innings but Moeen Ali (who also had six wickets in the first second Test), Adil Rashid and Gareth Batty did some more organized work with their spin.