Fortune Barishal Skipper Tamim Iqbal. Photo: Collected

DHAKA, Jan 30, 2025 (BSS)- Fortune Barishal Skipper Tamim Iqbal reasoned that 
Najmul Hossain Shanto was not in the playing XI for the last six matches of 
the side due to the combination, not for his poor run of form.

Shanto, who is the captain of the national team, got the opportunity to play 
five matches out of Barishal's 11 in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in which 
he scored just 56 runs. Apart from 41 against Rangpur Riders, he was out for 
single digit figure in all four matches.

"It is very unfortunate. I have to admit that I am not able to play him as 
much as I should have given him the opportunity. Because... if you look at my 
team, it is very difficult for us to set our combination. I found it so tough 
to decide our combination in the first two to four matches. I tried to play 
him," Tamim said here. 

"But he is not sitting out because of his performance. I can say that for 
sure. If you see him against Rangpur, he had a good innings of 40 plus. His 
absence is just because of the combination."

Ahead of the crucial Champions Trophy, Bangladesh players are playing only 
BPL, which serves them as the preparation platform. 

Two matches out of five in between, Barisal played Shanto as a wicketkeeper. 
A big budget team has many options in one position, Tamim said. 

He also admitted that he is yet to understand where Shanto fits in as a 
batter.

"I also cannot understand, where should I make him bat. Left-handed or right-
handed combination is also an issue. I do not want all top three to be left-
handed. There are many things actually. I think everything is worth 
answering. But I want to say again, his attitude towards the team is 
extraordinary as he has taken it easy," Tamim said.

Barishal of late used Towhid Hridoy as the opener with Tamim. Although Hridoy 
failed to play a big knock, he played some impactful knock. Tamim also has 
been scoring regularly while Dawid Malan prospers at No.3. The former English 
cricketer is consistently showing the value of his experience and on top of 
that he has been scoring regularly.

So there is no place of Shanto in the top three, according to Tamim.

Even though, he sits out, Shanto didn't miss any practice session and is 
having a great time with everyone, Tamim informed. 

"I also want to confirm this, his attitude towards the team is great. He is 
the captain of the Bangladesh team. He is one of the best batters in the 
country. But he is not able to play in domestic cricket, franchise 
competitions. But his attitude towards the senior and junior cricketers of 
the team is extraordinary. For which I want to thank him."

Having secured the playoffs and the first qualifier, Tamim has the 
opportunity to test the bench strength in the last match.

But Tamim couldn't say for sure whether he will opt to test bench strength or 
will go out with the best XI.

"It depends. I have not talked about it yet. There are two sides of it-
whether you want to make any changes before the first qualifier, in that case 
you have to break the team combination. We've to think whether it will be 
good for us. But if there is niggle and injury concern, one or two changes 
may come in that case. But we haven't decided on that yet," he said.

Barishal added New Zealand pacer Adam Milne to the team to defend the title. 
It is learnt that South African star David Miller will also come for one or 
two matches. Kyle Myers is also expected to return. However, the Barishal 
captain does not want to bring up any radical changes to the team that has 
been in great rhythm. 

"We have made one sign--Adam Milne who is a pacer from New Zealand. Apart 
from that, talks are going on with one or two cricketers," Tamim said.

"Personally, I am not in favour of changing the entire set-up. I think my 
team is doing well. Everyone who is playing is contributing. We will try to 
strengthen the areas where we feel we need to strengthen a little. I don't 
think there will be any massive changes in our team," he concluded.