Sabbir, Miraz to open against SL?

The Bangladesh team management are thinking of sending in Sabbir Rahman and Mehedi Hasan Miraz, neither of whom featured in the match against Afghanistan, as openers in the do-or-die fixture against Sri Lanka in Dubai today.

Sources close to the board confirmed that Sabbir and Miraz are likely to feature as openers due to the poor performance of Anamul Haque Bijoy and Mohammad Naim Sheikh in the seven-wicket defeat to Afghanistan.

During yesterday's press conference on the eve of the game, team director Khaled Mahmud too was left unhappy with the lack of intent shown by the batters in the Afghanistan game.

 "In the top-order, our biggest problem is that our opening pair is not clicking in any way. We have tried many pairs. Maybe we are missing Liton Das a lot this tournament. But we can't do anything about it since we aren't getting many players this tournament due to injuries. I am hoping that those who bat in the opening slots will bat according to their plans. You can get out trying to hit the very first delivery, but when we don't see that intent, it pains us greatly. I want to see that intent and I want that mindset to be honest," Mahmud said yesterday.

Despite getting quite a few loose deliveries, Bijoy, who came into the side having played his last T20I in 2015, failed to put most of them away. The 29-year-old has managed 90 runs in his seven innings at an average of 12.8 in T20Is since returning to the team.

 "He can't even get ball on bat," a source close to the board opined.

Naim had also been dropped after a poor run of form, but did not make his mark after returning for the Afghanistan game.

The Tigers had an optional training session yesterday and only Sabbir, Mehedi, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain came in, accompanied by nets bowlers.

Sabbir was hitting the ball quite well in the nets yesterday, sending deliveries over the ropes on quite a few instances. The 30-year-old played his last T20I in 2019 at home.

The move to send in Sabbir appears to be a gamble but given the team's performances, the management are in disarray.

Meanwhile, changes to the bowling line-up could also be on offer.