Puzzle remains at the top

With a happy recent history in limited-overs cricket, the most recent instances being the ODI and T20I series won in the West Indies in July, there are not many selection dilemmas for the national selectors ahead of the Asia Cup starting in the UAE on September 15. Perhaps the only big missing piece of the puzzle is a stable opening partner for Tamim Iqbal.

The 29-year-old Tamim has had to burden the responsibility of providing a solid start for the Tigers all on his own, which sometimes has the effect of the left-hander needing to play more cautiously than he naturally would.

Interestingly there was no shortage of talented batsmen and neither was there a deficit of opportunities given to the young hopefuls, but none were able to cement their spot in the opening slot in any of the formats so far.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Anamul, who started his international career with a bang in 2012 and has struck three hundreds in the fifty-over format, lost his place after a series of disappointments culminating in three poor performances in the West Indies ODIs.

There were also questions over Anamul's negative batting approach, for which he was also not considered for some time since his honeymoon period ended in 2014. The cricketer managed to score heavily in the domestic circuit and returned to the side after three years during the tri-nation series at home earlier this year.

But despite getting the license from captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza to play his natural game, Anamul failed to prove his worth and managed to score just 88 runs in the seven consecutive matches he played since making a comeback to the side.

Another highly rated and talented batsman, Soumya Sarkar, did not fare much better. Boasting the ability to time the cricket ball sweetly, regardless of conditions, the left-hander who stormed onto the scene with blazing innings in 2015 has been unable to rekindle even a flicker of that flame despite numerous opportunities.

With one hundred and six fifties, Soumya has scored 967 runs in 32 ODIs at an average of 34.53. He lost his place from the Test and ODI squads after a poor tour of South Africa last year.

However, Soumya still managed to keep his place in the T20I squad, but was unable to score significantly. The 25-year-old did show glimpses of returning to form in the recent tour of Ireland with the Bangladesh A team.

Another wicket-keeper batsman, Liton Das, is perhaps the first choice among the three probable opening partners of Tamim as the right-hander managed to get starts during the Test series against West Indies and his tour culminated in a brilliant 32-ball 61 run in the third and final T20I against West Indies to guide Bangladesh to a series win.

It will be important for Liton to carry the momentum and cement a place in the one-day format, in which the right-hander has just scored 165 runs in 12 games without a half-century -- which does not justify his talent.

Liton, who played his last ODI against South Africa almost a year ago, could well be the latest puzzle piece in ODIs -- it remains to be seen whether he will make himself fit for the purpose.