Bangladesh, Afghanistan meet amid rains as solitary Test struggles for significance

A Test match between two nations will be played in one of the premier cricket stadiums, and in front of a live TV audience. If this is considered as enough of a context, then the Bangladesh vs Afghanistan one-off Test is relevant. Otherwise, sandwiched between the World Test Championship final and the upcoming Ashes, this contest in Dhaka, being held bang in the middle of Bangladesh's monsoon season, struggles to gain significance for their fans.

The Future Tours Programme originally had this series scheduled as a two-match affair, before one Test was cut off. That, perhaps, is an indication that even the solitary Test seems out of place, not least when both sides will be rather more keenly looking forward to the ODI World Cup, which is less than four months away.

In fact, Bangladesh have played just one Test this year - the one-off game against Ireland in April - with their next matches in the format scheduled only for November, shortly after the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's last Test had come a long time ago - against Zimbabwe in March 2021 - although one of their six games in the format so far has featured a 224-run win against Bangladesh, even as it came further back in 2019.

Nevertheless, the hosts enter the Test against Afghanistan on the back of an A series against West Indies in May, where an impressive show by uncapped batter Shahadat Hossain helped him earn a call-up to the national side. Bangladesh will be without regular Test captain Shakib Al Hasan - he is out with a finger injury - and Tamim Iqbal, who was ruled out on the eve of the game due to a lower back pain.

However, the visitors will be taking some positives into the game: allrounder Karim Janat, who hasn't made his Test debut, was the highest run-getter in the last Ahmad Shah Abdali four-day tournament - he also had 18 wickets at an average of 20 - while Amir Hamza had topped the wicket-taking charts. There were several other performers in that competition among those who are part of the squad for the Test against Bangladesh, including left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan and legspinner Izharulhaq Naveed, who is also yet to play a Test.

Bangladesh WLLLLL(last five completed matches; most recent first)
Afghanistan WLLWW

The green pitch in Mirpur would put the onus on Bangladesh's fast bowlers to come up with a match-winning showing. Taskin Ahmed is considered the leader of the pack, which also includes Ebadot Hossain, Khaled Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and the uncapped Musfik Hasan. A three-man pace attack is most likely against Afghanistan, although coach Chandika Hathurusinghe hinted that Bangladesh might even consider fielding four pace bowlers.

Ibrahim Zadran is the in-form batter for Afghanistan. The tall, graceful right-hand opener averages 44 after four Tests, where he has three half-centuries - including an 87 against Bangladesh - and enters this solitary Test on the back of a match-winning 98 in an ODI against Sri Lanka earlier this month. He has the fourth-highest runs for any Afghanistan batter in Tests, and with only 84 runs separating him from the topper, Zadran has the chance to get right on top in Dhaka.

Bangladesh will be forced to make at least two changes, with Shakib and Tamim out. On Monday, Litton said that he would like to go with five bowlers although it is unlikely that Taskin Ahmed will be brought back so soon after recovering from a side strain.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 2 Zakir Hasan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Taijul Islam, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Khaled Ahmed, 11 Ebadot Hossain

Afghanistan last played a Test two years ago, with only four players from that side part of the squad to face Bangladesh. Rashid Khan has been rested. Thus, Abdul Malik is likely to open the innings with Zadran, while middle-order batter Bahir Shah, Janat and Naveed could be the debutants.

Afghanistan (probable): 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Abdul Malik, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Bahir Shah, 6 Karim Janat, 7 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Amir Hamza, 9 Yamin Ahmadzai, 10 Izharulhaq Naweed, 11 Zahir Khan

There was a surprising tinge of green on the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch when the ground staff unveiled it amid the rain breaks two days before the game. And if the forecast turns out to be true, there is likely to be a number of rain interruptions throughout the five days. Not much pace and bounce is expected at the venue.

"The expectation is high. We are here to play good cricket, and want to win the game. Yes, we had a gap because the last time we played [was] against Zimbabwe two years ago. [But] we play domestic first-class games, and lots of players are involved in that."
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi remains hopeful despite a lack of exposure to Test cricket

"Most of our players played against West Indies A recently. Many have been playing cricket quite regularly. Some of us have also been playing one-day cricket recently. I think if we can do a mental shift, we won't have too many problems."
Bangladesh's stand-in captain Litton Das is confident of their build-up