adminZimbabwe have been in camp for the last two weeks and the convener of selectors Givemore Makoni yesterday said they will announce their final team today.
Steve Mangongo, who has been the assistant to former coach Alan Butcher, will lead the team into the battle as they seek to repair a badly damaged reputation on the international stage.
Zimbabwe have since intensified their preparations and last week they trimmed down to 21 players their squad to face Bangladesh in the upcoming Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 International series.
Opening batsman Tino Mawoyo and fast bowler Chris Mpofu have been ruled out of this match because of injuries while middle order batsman Craig Ervine has opted to play overseas cricket.
But former captain Elton Chigumbura is set to bounce back into the team after missing the previous tour of West Indies because of poor form.
The all-rounder, however, seemed to have worked on his game with both ball and bat.
New faces continue knocking on the door as Southern Rocks’ Richmond Mutumbani and Timycen Maruma of Mountaineers, who have done well in the domestic competitions, were shortlisted in the 21-man squad.
They were part of the group of players who were offered winter contracts by Zimbabwe Cricket last week alongside Sikandar Raza Butt, Tendai Chatara, Michael Chinouya, Keegan Meth, Natsai M’shangwe, Tino Mutombodzi, Shingirai Masakadza, Sean Williams and Malcolm Waller.
However, caretaker coach Mangongo has made it clear that the players should fight for their places in the team. Experienced players like Hamilton Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Vusi Sibanda, Ray Price, Prosper Usteya and captain Brendan Taylor are also in the mix.
Zimbabwe need to turn on the power against their lowly arch-rivals to erase memories of their disastrous tours of the West Indies and New Zealand where they lost all the matches inside three days.
The home team may draw inspiration from their statistics against Bangladesh which tilt the scales in their favour.
Contests between the two teams have often produced some exciting affairs but Zimbabwe will go into the battle with a slight psychological edge as they have won more games between the two.
They finished on top when Bangladesh last toured here in 2011 as Zimbabwe won the only Test upon their return to the longer version of the game from a six-year lay-off and then claimed a 3-2 win in the One Day International Series.
Bangladesh are already in the country and their Australian coach Shane Jurgensen has vowed to give the hosts a good run as they also want to play for their integrity.
To underline the importance they are placing on this tour, the Tigers have also appointed former Pakistan bowler Saqlain Mushtaq as their spin consultant.
Bangladesh arrived last week and had five days to acclimatise with the conditions in Zimbabwe.
The Tigers had a decent tour to Sri Lanka before coming to Zimbabwe and they will be looking forward to continue with their good form.
Online Reporter