The only Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will mark Stuart Law’s beginning as head coach of the Tigers.
The debut for the 42-year-old Australian comes at an interesting phase for Bangladesh cricket, especially after a World Cup campaign that flattered to deceive and a four-year period under Jamie Siddons where some of the national cricketers progressed into Test quality while some remained stagnant, despite the efforts of the Victorian.
The former Sri Lankan assistant coach will have two ready opening batsmen but the rest, especially in Test cricket, aren’t exactly automatic choices. The true bounce of the Harare Sports Club wicket will give him a glimpse of Junaed Siddiqui’s growth as a Test No 3 while also checking if Shahriar Nafees can pip that spot.
Mohammad Ashraful is said to have had good sessions with Law so far with the new coach making it certain that the flawed genius doesn’t require a change in technique. Law’s calm approach is slightly less straightforward compared to Siddons’s persona but the ex-coach wasn’t without his successes.
A lack of options still persist for the national team, a problem the selection panel led by Akram Khan have promised to correct, but the Tigers look half the side in terms of class, quality, skills and mentality without their two lynchpins skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
The left-handed opener, who will return to the longer version after the Tigers’ last Test in Manchester last year, has Imrul Kayes for support but a big innings from the Chittagonian will inspire his teammates and push the opponents onto the back foot.
Shakib, who is set to bat at his favoured No 6 and handle a fragile middle-order and shore up the late-order, will also shoulder most of the bowling load in this Test match, though the spinner’s role is expected to come not before late on the third day on the Harare wicket.
Over-dependence on the duo is an added burden for Tamim and Shakib as well as being a precarious precedent to set.
As a result, Law will also have to rebuild a bowling attack minus the injury-plagued Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain, the current new-ball pair, stacks up 19 wickets from 13 Tests among them and with Robiul Islam having played only a solitary Test and Shahadat Hossain also out injured, it will take a while for a genuine pace attack to be set in place.
The onus will be on Law over the next two years to bring discipline and a sense of belonging to the side as well as results.
He couldn’t have asked for a better opponent than one that is playing a Test after six years, but for the pessimists, Zimbabwe is a potential banana skin.
However he views the situation, a successful series will elicit small surprise and muted fanfare, but it will be a start in the right direction.
-With The Daily Star input
