Tigers brace for tough Zim tour

Many consider Bangladesh to have been a better side than Zimbabwe across all formats in recent times, but the Tigers upcoming tour to Southern African is not going to be an easy assignment.

Bangladesh are scheduled to travel to Zimbabwe tonight, visiting the landlocked nation after eight years, to take part in a lone Test match followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is. On their previous tour of Zimbabwe, the Tigers lost the three-match ODI series 2-1 and managed to draw the two-match Test and two-match T20I series.

With the three-match ODI series also part of the ICC ODI Super League, the Tigers will surely look to bag as many points as they can to secure a place in the top eight, which would grant qualification to the 2023 World Cup.

Although Bangladesh won a three-match ODI series 2-1 at home against a relatively inexperienced Sri Lankan side last month, there are still quite a few areas where the team management would like to see improvement, especially in the tough conditions of Zimbabwe.

An ideal preparation for the visitors would have been if the just-concluded Dhaka Premier League had followed its usual 50-over format. On the flipside, the positive is that the players at least got some match practice before departing even though it was in T20s.

"I think keeping the ICC ODI Super League in mind during the tour will be crucial," said former captain and member of the selection committee, Habibul Bashar. "It won't be a walk in the park for us. Zimbabwe are a tough opponent at home, especially in Harare, so we will have to be on our toes," he added.

Bangladesh's recent performances in the longest format have also left a lot to be desired, as they followed up a defeat in a two-match Test series at home against the West Indies with another series defeat in Sri Lanka.

While the good news is surely the return of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in all three formats, Mahmudullah Riyad's last moment inclusion in the Test squad due to Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim missing the series also raised questions over the selectors' lack of consistency, especially after Mahmudullah's last Tests were against Pakistan in 2020, when he was asked to improve his performance to regain a place in the Test side by head coach Russell Domingo

"I would like to clear that Mahmudullah is not a backup option in the Test side. Since he was dropped from the Test team, we tried few players. But we felt there was no other option for such a tough tour. So we decided to include Mahmudullah considering his experience and because he didn't announce his retirement from Tests. Another reason is Shakib's return, which allows us to have an extra batsman or a bowler in the side," Bashar added.

According to Bashar, the selectors are considering Mahmudullah for the long run in the Test side although he has done nothing exceptional during this period that merited consideration. That reflects a clouded vision when it comes to looking to the future instead of going backwards.