Shorn of three first-choice players due to injury, Bangladesh have turned to a veteran batter, perhaps because of his experience in Australia
Bangladesh have named a 15-player squad for their first Test in Australia in 23 years, with almost half of the touring party to get their first taste of top-flight cricket Down Under.
Veteran Soumya Sarkar has been recalled after spending five-and-a-half years in the Test wilderness. The left-hander’s experience on these shores – no active Bangladesh batter has played more than his eight international matches in Australia – was likely a factor in his recall.
With first-choice quicks Nahid Rana (side strain) and Shoriful Islam (hamstring) out for the series opener in Darwin, Taskin Ahmed will lead the visitors’ pace attack after he missed the Tigers’ most recent Test against Zimbabwe, an innings-and-85-run defeat in Harare. Vice-captain Mehidy Hasan is also back to bolster the bowling stocks.
Musfik Hasan, a 23-year-old seamer, is in line to make his international debut after taking 57 first-class wickets at 22.82. Cricbuzz has reported there is uncertainty over the availability of fellow seamer Ebadot Hossain, who could miss the Darwin Test due to paternity leave but has been named in the squad.
Wicketkeeper Litton Das, who has made three Test centuries over the past two years, is also out with injury. Gloveman Jaker Ali has been recalled having not played international cricket since November, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy has been dropped after four single-digit scores in his past six Test innings.
That has opened the door for Soumya, who featured in recent white-ball games against Australia in Dhaka and Chattogram and whose sole Test hundred came against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2019.
The 33-year-old is one of four players in this squad who featured in the 2017 win over Australia in Dhaka, one of the most famous in Bangladesh’s Test history.
Soumya is trumped for experience in Australia only by Taskin, who has played nine internationals here. All up, Bangladesh have eight players to have played international cricket in Australia – captain Najmul Shanto, and mainstays Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque among them – at World Cups in 2015 (ODI) or 2022 (T20I).
Others have plenty of international experience almost everywhere else; spinners Mehidy and Taijul Islam, for instance, have nearly 500 Test wickets between them but the pair has just one match (Mehidy in a 2022 T20 against South Africa at the SCG) in Australia to their names.
Australia have not hosted Bangladesh for a bilateral series since 2008 (for three ODIs), while the Tigers’ last Test here came in a 2003 series in Darwin and Cairns.
Darwin is not an unfamiliar location for some of the Tigers’ less-experienced players however, with Musfik, Hasan Mahmud and Tanzid Hasan having all played in the Top End T20 series for Bangladesh A in either 2024 or 2025.
Australia have named a full-strength squad for the two-Test series also featuring a match in Mackay. Shanto has suggested that is a badge of honour in itself for his ninth-ranked Test outfit.
“Normally, I have never seen anything like this before in Bangladesh cricket,” Shanto was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. “When teams play against us, there are usually a lot of experiments. I would say this is an achievement for our team.
“Because they have brought such a team, it is a very big opportunity for us to see how well we can play cricket against them … it is clear that they have not taken this series lightly.”
NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series
First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am (local)
Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
Bangladesh squad (for first Test): Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque Showrab, Mushfiqur Rahim, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan