Russell Domingo has said veteran Mushfiqur Rahim and Nurul Hasan will be sharing the wicketkeeping load during the T20I series against New Zealand.
Bangladesh head coach confirmed that his team will opt for the split keeping approach for the first four games of the series and then make a decision as to who shall keep for the fifth and final encounter.
“(Nurul Hasan) Sohan will keep wicket in the first two games. The plan is to split wicketkeeping duties in this particular series, make it two games each and make a decision in the fifth game. I think it is important to have those options covered.”
Domingo was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo
Domingo has thrown in a huge surprise for those following Bangladesh cricket for a long time. Mushfiqur has almost always been the team’s first-choice glove man in ODIs & T20Is since the start of his career.
But the batting stalwart could now have to relinquish the keeping duties favouring Hasan, who many believe is Bangladesh’s best wicketkeeper in technical terms. He is also in solid batting form and is only a positive inclusion to the T20I side.
Nurul had also kept wickets in Zimbabwe and against Australia at home earlier this month and will now have the chance to further impress the selectors ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Nurul’s emergence, however, is no threat to Mushfiqur’s standing in the batting unit where he is still indispensable to the team’s cause with his great ability to anchor the innings from the middle-order.
While they won 4-1, Bangladesh did miss Mushfiqur’s presence a lot against Australia on extremely dry, spin-friendly tracks in Dhaka that led to a string of low-scoring T20I matches.
“He can hold the innings together for us “He can also rotate strike in the middle overs. He can finish well for us. It is good to have him back in the squad.”
said Domingo on Mushfiqur.
The five-match series against New Zealand starts on September 1.
