|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selector Hannan Sarkar explained why they opted to take an extra batter in the place of injured pacer Shoriful Islam.

Injured paceman Shoriful was replaced by uncapped Jaker Ali Anik in the Test squad for the India Test series. According to Hannan, Jaker Ali's recent performance will be an effective option in the middle-order for the Test side.

“If you look at his [Jaker’s] records in the NCL, BCL, and longer formats, you will get an idea that he could be a very effective player in the longer format. Unfortunately, he could not make his debut due to injuries earlier,” Hannan told the media.

“Recently, as you know, he played an innings of 172 runs in Pakistan, played for a long time, and performed very well. Considering all, Jaker is one step forward," he said.

The selector further revealed why middle-order batter Shahadat Hossain Dipu was not picked for the Tests.

“Considering the performances. Deepu’s performance in the four-day games was not satisfactory in the Australia and Pakistan tours. Deepu is our future cricketer. The NCL is starting, he is preparing for it. Deepu is very much part of our plan.

Shoriful is the only member of the recent historic Test-winning side over Pakistan who missed out on the opportunity in the India Test series due to a groin injury. However, The sector was hopeful for his return in the India T20I series. 

"Shoriful is still not 100% fit. He was unfit during the second Test match in Pakistan, which is why he was not part of the selection process. He has since been kept in the follow-up of that process. The physios and trainers are taking care of him,” he said.

According to the selector, the left-arm pacer is yet to fully recover to be able to bowl in the longer format. Instead, he will be rested during Tests to regain his fitness ahead of T20Is, starting on October 6.

“I cannot say that he is perfectly fit for the test series because he might need to bowl 15-20 overs. We also have T20 matches coming up, and Shoriful is a key player in the short format. Since he is not completely fit, we do not want to take any risks. We have managed to create players who can compete in our test team. Therefore, we did not want to risk Shoriful. I hope he will regain his fitness in due time so he can be included in the T20 team,” he added.