Bangladesh name strong pace attack for Pakistan Tests

Bangladesh have named a 16-member squad in the ICC World Test Championship series against Pakistan later this month.

The squad will be led by Najmul Hossain Shanto with a strong five-man pace attack named for the series. While the pace bowling unit has a wealth of experience, it will be without Taskin Ahmed for the first Test with the fast bowler as he hasn’t bowled in a Test match since June last year.

“We have selected five pacers mindful of the fact that Taskin Ahmed will only play the second Test," Gazi Ashraf Hossain, Chairman National Selection Panel, said.

"He hasn’t bowled in a Test since June last year and we have decided to include him in the A Team for the second four-dayer against Pakistan A to get him into the rhythm for longer version matches."

Pakistan aim for big push in upcoming WTC assignments

Pakistan and Bangladesh have played six Test series so far with Bangladesh yet to win a Test match against the Asian opponents.

They managed to draw only one of the 13 Test matches between these teams.

“The emphasis was on picking our best players for this version," Hossain said.

"This is a well-balanced squad. The likes of Mushfiqur (Rahim), Mominul (Haque) and Shakib (Al Hasan) have played 216 matches combined and there is no substitute for that kind of experience."

"Taijul (Islam) and Miraz (Mehidy Hasan) have been leading the spin department for a long time and have over 350 wickets between them. We also expect Shanto (Najmul Hossain), Litton (Kumar Das) and the other batsmen to step up because to be competitive against Pakistan, we will need a team effort.”

The first Test begins on 21 August while the second match starts on 30 August.

Bangladesh Test squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumar Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed