Mash issues hope for in-form openers

Bangladesh go into the ODI series against the Windies with four openers who have all been doing well in recent times. Captain Mashrafe said that Bangladesh formed a 16-member squad so that in-form players are not disheartened. Being left out of the side can be demoralising and Mashrafe has a message for the openers to keep chins up.

"Normally at home there are 14 players in the side. The fact is that we formed a 16-member squad so that no one loses confidence and we can monitor the players [who are in-form].

"We put priority on those who performed recently," Mashrafe reiterated. With Tamim Iqbal returning to the squad, Bangladesh have four openers in the lineup. Tamim and Soumya Sarkar were amongst the runs in the practice match and the latter's meaningful form in domestic cricket paved the way for a return to the ODI side. Imrul Kayes showed perseverance in his Asia Cup knock against Afghanistan before blinding performances in the Zimbabwe ODI series while Liton Das has the flair and talent for the biggest stage as was evidenced by his ton against India in the Asia Cup final.

"Having an in-form top-order is a sweet problem to have," Mashrafe admitted. The Tigers suffered early batting collapses throughout the Asia Cup and Mashrafe said that whoever among the four is selected, there will be a lot of discussion among the selectors. "We will take a decision after sitting down with the coach and the selectors," he said.

The main thing for Mashrafe was that with the World Cup to come, having four openers meant that if they are all in form then one or more of them could bat lower down the order.

"It might be the case that one or more of them [could bat lower down the order]. Nothing is for certain," Mashrafe said with a smile which showed the nature of the problem, a sweet one.

"A few of the openers have batted lower down in the order. Imrul batted at six and played an extraordinary innings. Soumya played at seven in the final. With the World Cup in mind we could do something like that," The Tigers skipper opined.