Chronicle Editor
Harare Bureau
THE Bangladesh Cricket Board have turned to former South Africa batsman Ashwell Prince and Sri Lanka spin specialist Rangana Herath to join their national team on the tour of Zimbabwe as consultants.
The Tigers, who were busy at the weekend with the final touches of their preparations for the tour, are scheduled to take the flight to Harare today. They are expected to arrive tomorrow.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced that Prince agreed to work for them during the tour of Zimbabwe which involves one Test, a three-match ODI series and as many T20I matches.
“Herath will join the Bangladesh coaching team in Zimbabwe and will be in the role until the end of Bangladesh’s campaign in this year’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup.
“Prince has reached an agreement to work with the Bangladeshi batsmen for the tour of Zimbabwe,” said BCB in a press statement.
Herath is replacing former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori in the position. He holds the title as the most successful left-arm spinner in the history of Test cricket with 433 wickets.
The 43-year-old former Sri Lanka spinner is an International Cricket Council/Sri Lanka Cricket Level Three coach, specialising in spin bowling.
Prince is replacing Englishman, Jon Lewis. He brings a wealth of experience as he was capped 119 times by South Arica in the three formats and had previously worked as batting consultant for the South Africa A team and also the A side’s interim head coach.
The 44-year-old is also a Level Three coach who has worked as the batting consultant for South Africa A team, and had also been the A side’s interim head coach.
Former Proteas coach Russell Domingo is the current Bangladesh coach. They also have another former Proteas coach Ottis Gibson on board as the bowling coach. Fellow South African Ryan Cook is Bangladesh’s fielding coach.
Bangladesh are touring Zimbabwe for the first time in eight years. All the matches will be played behind closed doors at Harare Sports Club, with no spectators allowed in the ground as part of the pandemic protocols that Zimbabwe Cricket have put in place in the fight against the spreading of Covid-19.
The lone Test that rekindle the rivalry between the two nations has been scheduled from July 7-11.
But before the Test, the tourists are scheduled to play a two-day practice match scheduled for this coming weekend as well as another warm-up game on July 14, two days ahead of the ODI series.
Bangladesh will conclude the tour with the T20I matches set for July 23, 25 and 27.
But of significance is the three-match ODI series, which forms part of the ICC Super League that is serving as the main route for qualification for the 2023 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.
The Bangladeshis also announced that senior batsman Mahmudullah has been added to the Test squad for the one-off Test following the withdrawals of Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal due to injuries.
Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s T20Is skipper, last featured in the longest format in February 2020 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi and was dropped since.
In 49 Tests, he averages 31.77 with the help of 6 centuries and 16 fifties. He was also among a handful of cricketers to be given a white-ball-only central contract in 2020.
The 35-year-old batting all-rounder has been added as a “back-up batsman” in the squad following the ruling out of Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal.
Rahim is recovering from a hairline fracture on his left index finger, which he sustained during Abahani Limited’s Dhaka Premier League (DPL) T20 match.
Opener Tamim suffered a knee injury ahead of the Super League stage of Prime Bank Cricket Club’s campaign in the DPL.
“During an emergency meeting yesterday that included the selectors, the board president (Nazmul Hassan) and myself, we decided that we can’t take a chance with the injuries,” Akram Khan, BCB cricket operations chairman, said.
“Because of the situation, we decided to make the squad bigger. We are 80 percent sure that he [Rahim] can play, but we don’t want to take a chance. We want to have a back-up batsman in the squad.”
Apart from Mahmudullah, this Test squad also sees the return of Shakib Al Hasan to the red-ball side after he last played in February earlier in the year. He opted out of the Sri Lanka Test series to play in the IPL 2021 for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Zimbabwe selectors are also expected to announce their squad today. The national cricketers have been training in Harare under coach Lalchand Rajput after getting the green light from Government to go ahead with the tour. The players were given time off to spend the weekend with their families and will resume camp today.
Bangladesh Test squad
Mominul Haque (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Shoriful Islam
Online Reporter