HP squad formed with eye on future Australia Tests

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday named a few Test cricketers in their four-day High Performance (HP) squad for the upcoming tour in Australia, keeping in mind their 2027 Future Tours Programme (FTP) schedule. 

Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, and Shahadat Hossain Dipu, all part of the current Test setup, are set to tour Australia for their maiden outing in the Oceania region.

The national team is not accustomed to touring Australia regularly, with their last and only Test tour occurring in 2003 which featured two Tests and three ODIs. In 2008, Bangladesh toured Australia again, but only for a three-match ODI series. Since then, the Tigers have fared in Australia for two global tournaments: 2015 ODI World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.

As HP team are also scheduled to play a 50-over series and a T20 tournament involving Big Bash teams and a Pakistani side, the selectors included several white-ball cricketers in their squads: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Afif Hossain, and Shamim Hossain, alongside some budding cricketers fit for the formats.

Although BCB's plan to send some of their Test cricketers to gain experience on Australian soil is receiving applause from different corners, questions remain on whether their selection for the white-ball matches is justified. Afif, who was a traveling reserve during Bangladesh's recent T20 World Cup campaign, hasn't played a game for Bangladesh since December last year, while Shamim's last outing in national colours came during last year's New Zealand tour.

A 28-year-old pacer, Abu Hider Rony, also found his place in both white-ball squads despite his last international match for Bangladesh being in 2018. National selector Hannan Sarkar claimed they formed the squads prioritising players for specific formats and picking some players who could go on to represent them at top level.

"We have a few Test cricketers in our four-day team. As we are scheduled to play Tests in Australia in 2027 according to our FTP schedule, we want to prioritise these players," Hannan was quoted in a BCB video released yesterday.

"Similar goes for one-day and T20 teams. I think it's a very good stage where the players can express themselves and gather experience," he added.

HP chairman Naimur Rahman Durjoy earlier insisted that they have arranged the tour for pipeline cricketers' betterment to "give game-time opportunities", and now it's up to them to "utilise the opportunity and take themselves to next level".

"We want to continue the process and increase the facilities from the board," he added.

Whether the series will have a significant impact on Bangladesh cricket in the future remains to be seen.