The dip in form for the last few months could cost Nasir Hossain his place finally in the Test squad as selectors are seriously considering his axe from the squad for the forthcoming home series against Zimbabwe. Selection panel will sit with head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe today to finalise the probable squad for the crucial Test series where both the rankings and pride are at stake.
Selectors have already prepared a list of 31 players for the preliminary squad, both for the Zimbabwe series and the Bangladesh A team that will participate in a tournament organsied to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
Nasir is unlikely to be omitted from the preliminary squad, but chances are high that he could be heading to Kolkata for the Eden tournament, which will coincide with the first Test against Zimbabwe.
The team management have already dropped a broad hint about their plan with Nasir when they dropped him from the starting line-up in the last two matches of the Asian Games.
His axing came after Nasir failed to shine against a team like Kuwait, making just nine runs off 11 balls. This was shocking considering Kuwaiti bowlers were nowhere near to international standard and Bangladesh used them only for some batting practice.
Nasir was considered to be a long-term prospect for the national team in all formats and in his first two years in the national team since making his debut against Zimbabwe in 2011, he established himself as the ‘finisher.’
But he could not score a fifty in any of the formats since April 2013, which left the team management running out of patience. It is not how many runs he scores, rather how he got out, mostly irritated the coach, captain and selectors, who, according to numerous sources, are not ready to carry the burden any more.
‘He is now finished,’ said a selector. ‘There is no point we should carry him again.’
-With New Age input
