Sports Reporter :
Dashing opener Tamim Iqbal played last in Sri Lanka. After that, Tamim went to Zimbabwe but he could not play there due to injury. As Tamim Iqbal will not play in the first Test against Pakistan, so, there is a question arisen that who will be the replacement of Tamim Iqbal. Sadman Islam will open against Pakistan as an opener. But Bangladesh Team Management can not confirm yet the other opener. Mahmudul Hasan Joy or Saif Hassan may be the other opener against Pakistan.
Opener Sadman Islam scored century against Zimbabwe in the recently concluded Test match there. Due to injury, Sadman missed some matches. When Tamim Iqbal could not play some matches due to injury, sometimes Soumya Sarkar, sometimes Saif Hassan, sometimes Imrul Kayes, sometimes Liton Das were the opening partner of Sadman Islam. The player of Bangladesh Under-19 Cricket team Mahmudul Hasan Joy has been included in the Bangladesh Test squad against Pakistan. Bangladesh Under-19 Cricket team are the reigning champions of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. Mahmudul Hasan performed really well in the National Cricket league (NCL). He hit two centuries in NCL. On the other hand, Saif Hassan could not shine with the willow in NCL. Saif Hassan played five Test matches in his Test campaign. Saif Hassan failed to show satisfactory performance in Test cricket. He also failed to show remarkable display in shorter version cricket competitions.
On Wednesday and on Thursday, Batting Coach of Bangladesh team Ashwell Prince and Russell Domingo gave extra preference to Mahmudul Hasan in the net session in Chittagong. Prince and Domingo worked with Mahmudul Hasan. Later, Prince and Domigo observed the batting performance of Sadman Islam and Saif Hassan.
Captain of Bangladesh Test Cricket team Mominul Haque said, ” We have called Mahmudul Hasan as a back-up opener. If he plays, he will perform as an opener.”
