Bangladesh search for right opening combination

Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes had added 232 runs for the second wicket in the last Chittagong Test, against Sri Lanka, which is Bangladesh's second highest partnership overall. Only nine months later, Imrul has replaced Shamsur as an opener in the squad for the third Test. But nine months in Bangladesh cricket is long enough to have a batsman, who scored a first-class double-hundred and Test hundred, become so woefully out of form that a replacement is sought mid-series.

In a Test series where a lot has surprisingly gone right for the home side, this has been one of the few worries.

By dropping Shamsur, this year's opening pair has been disturbed for the first time. Either Imrul or Anamul Haque will partner Tamim Iqbal in the third Test in Chittagong. However, the drop, the change and the replacement still don't end the worry over the opening stand.

Anamul's struggle as an opener, scoring just 64 runs in six innings last year, was why Shamsur was handed a Test debut at the start of the year. Imrul last opened in 2011 and he averages 17.15 across three years from 32 innings at that position.

His return to Test cricket earlier this year had been as the No. 3, but the jury is still out on his stature as a batsman with better skills than his first foray in international cricket. Anamul has been the regular ODI opener but before the Khulna Test, he was considered a middle-order option. Needless to say, neither of Imrul and Anamul is a sure shot.

Mushfiqur did not reveal who he would choose between the two and even threw Marshall Ayub's name in the pot to slightly confound everyone. But he admitted that the lack of consistency worries him and said there is no quick fix.

"He [Imrul Kayes] is not certain to open," Mushfiqur said. "We also have Bijoy [Anamul Haque] and Marshall [Ayub]. I think the opening position is a difficult place to bat. If you look closely, almost every Test team has faced the challenge of playing the new ball in the longer version. We have tried a few combinations. Having the top three fixed means that they are performing consistently. It is still a problem for us. We hope to fix this quickly and come out of it."

At least one part of the opening partnership has been solved. Tamim has the century monkey off his back and the old confidence is visibly returning, evident through the first day of the second Test when he was unbeaten on 74. He has worked through several lean phases in his career, and the latest ran for nearly 12 months. But the same cannot be said about his assortment of opening partners.

Apart from Imrul, Anamul and Shamsur, Tamim has also been partnered by Junaid Siddique, Nazimuddin and Jahurul Islam. As some of the most talented and skilful batsmen to be produced by Bangladesh, none of them have flourished as Test openers despite having a free-flowing partner at the other end.

Among them, only Imrul has been reasonably successful as part of an opening stand, adding 1,229 runs in 32 innings at an average of 38.40 with Tamim, whose form during the period contributed heavily to the stand. But as an individual opening batsman, Imrul struggled more often than not. His other trouble had been the tour of West Indies where not only did he fare poorly on the field, a rash developed in his lower body which forced him out of the tour.

The man he has replaced, Shamsur, has an average of 14 in the last four Tests (112 runs in eight innings), and that has obviously cost him his place. But he can still force a comeback with domestic runs. He would have to switch back his mindset to where it was before his Test debut; regain his hunger.

As a cricket team however, Bangladesh would want to plug gaps when they are on a winning high. If either Imrul or Anamul is successful in making a decent score which helps the team make it 3-0, the position would become stronger due to the current situation of the Bangladesh team.