DHAKA, July 2, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh chief selector Habibul Bashar Sumon has dismissed the notion that the team experimented with its lineup during the innings and 85-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the Harare Test, saying the side remained largely unchanged despite the absence of several regular players.

In their two innings, Bangladesh were not able to reach 200-run mark, which was instrumental in an innings-margin defeat to Zimbabwe after 25 years.

Bangladesh were without their regulars Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were rested, while batter Liton Das missed the match through injury in a match that was non World Test Championship fixture. Towhid Hridoy and Amit Hasan made their Test debuts.

Bashar said the changes should not be viewed as experimentation.

"We did not make any changes in the ODIs. We did not change much in the Tests either. The batting was the same as before. Among the regular batters, only Liton could not play because of injury," Bashar told the reporters here today.

The chief selector defended the decision to rest the fast bowlers, saying workload management was necessary.

"We cannot make Taskin and Nahid play all the Tests. The bowlers who played are part of the squad. Ebadot, Nayeem and Khaled are part of the Test squad and regularly play Tests. We have not picked many new players for the Test team," Bashar added.