BAN vs IND: Taskin Ahmed to miss the first Test; Shakib Al Hasan’s availability also in doubt

Ahead of the upcoming first Test of the two-match series against India, Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo has provided a big update, confirming that pacer Taskin Ahmed will miss out on the opening game.

Notably, Taskin had suffered a back injury, and the team management was forced to rest him in the first two ODIs of the three-match series against India. He played in the final match and was then picked in the red-ball squad for the Chattogram Test. However, Domingo said the team management doesn’t want to take any risk by including Taskin in playing XI for the first Test.

“We are not going to risk Taskin in the first Test. He has come off a layoff and a few injections. To get him to bowl for a day and a half in these conditions in Chattogram is maybe not good for him,” said Domingo, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Domingo also said the team would take a late call on captain Shakib al Hasan‘s inclusion after an assessment. Shakib had left the practice ground to get a medical check-up of his ribs, which was hurt by Indian pacer Umran Malik in the ODI series. Though, Shakib returned to the stadium after half an hour and had a net session for 16 minutes, where he batted against the spinners for 10 minutes before taking throwdowns.

“Look, we are still assessing him, and we would make a call later on this afternoon to make sure he is okay. He is still struggling with his ribs and shoulders a little bit. Hopefully, he can go on hitting some balls and go see how he is doing this afternoon,” Domingo added.

Bangladesh squad for the first Test: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hassan Shanto, Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (subject to availability), Litton Das, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Zakir Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Anamul Haque Bijoy.