BanglaCricket Article

Bangladesh second string national string will tour Pakistan early next month to take part in Pakistan's Patron's Trophy first class domestic tournament. A primary squad consisting of 26 members for the Bangladesh 'A' team has been announced this week.

A fifteen member team of this list will go to play in the competition first starting from 1st December, which includes eight Bangladesh national players who played in the England series. Then on last week of December, those eight national players will return to Bangladesh to join the national team's camp for the up-coming Zimbabwe tour. The rest of the players from the primary squad who were left behind, will then replace those national players.

Bangladesh 'A' team will play in a tournament that will involve the following Pakistan domestic sides - Pakistan Customs, and Pakistan International Airlines(PIA) or Defense Housing Authority (DHA) from pool A (in an Inter-departmental Qualifying Tournament), Water and Power Development Authority(WAPDA), Attock Refinery Limited(ARL) or Khan Research Labs(KRL) from pool B,Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan(ADBP) from pool C, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan and Allied Bank (ABL) from pool D.

The following is the list of players who are in the primary squad for Bangladesh 'A' who will participate in the tournament (by the order of their participation in the recently concluded England series):

1) Hannan Sarkar (opener)
2) Moniruzzaman (opener)
3) Rajin Saleh Alam(middle order batsman)
4) Alok Kapali (middle order batsman / leg spinner)
5) Mushfiqur Rahman Babu (middle order batsman / medium pacer)
6) Monjurul Islam Rana (left arm spinner / all rounder)
7) Jamaluddin Babu (right arm off spinner / all rounder)
8) Anwar Hossain Munir (right arm pacer)

The following is the list of players who will play in the full 2-month tournament:

9) Mohammad Ashraful (opener / middle order batsman / leg spinner)
10) Ehsanul Haque Seejan(opener / medium pacer)
11) Shahriar Hossain Bidyut (opener)
12) Alamgir Kabir (pacer)
13) Tareq Aziz Khan (pacer)
14) Mohammad Salim (wicketkeeper)
15) Mosaddek Hossain Rubel(right arm leg spinner / all rounder)

The list of eleven players who will replace the eight national players on last week of December is the following:

16) Tushar Imran (middle order batsman)
17) Mazharul Haque Chowhdury Mridul (middle order batsman)
18) Anwar Hossain (opener / wicket keeper)
19) Hasibul Hussain Shanto (Pacer)
20) Fahim Muntasir Sumit (Right arm off spinner / all rounder)
21) Monjurul Islam Monju (Left arm pacer)

(The following players have not yet played for the Bangladesh National Team yet:)

22) Humayun Kabir
23) Rashedul Haque Sumon (middle order batsman / Medium pacer)
24) Nasiruddin Faruque
25) Shanto Junior
26) Gazi Alamgir (pacer)

In the above list, no player from the Bangladesh U-19 team has been selected as they are preparing for the U-19 World Cup coming up early next year.

There was a rumour going on that this tour of Pakistan is a selection trial for the off form national team players, but Faruque Ahmed, the chief selector of the Bangladesh Cricket Board has told that it is not a trial.

In fact, this is an opportunity for those players who are out of the national team for quite some time to get back into the national team by showing some good performances for the 'A' team. However, there were no reports as to whether any player from the Bangladesh 'A' side besides the eight players who played in the last England series will be called back to Bangladesh to prepare for the Zimbabwe tour. So it can be assumed that even if some players of the 'A' side are chosen for the national team, then there is the possibility that they will not be able to go to Zimbabwe, rather they can play for the home series against India. But nothing is certain yet. The main reason behind this assumption is that a specialist batting, bowling and a fielding coach will be brought into Bangladesh for the preparation of the Bangladesh national team. And although this does not mean that every player of the main Bangladesh squad for the tour of Zimbabwe will have to train under the specialist coaches, but this factor points out that it is still not clear about the selection policy of the selectors regarding the inclusion of 'A' team players into the national team.