Hathurusingha keen on testing young guns

Bangladesh will be without key figures such as Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das and Taskin Ahmed along with pacer Ebadot Hossain for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand, scheduled in Sylhet tomorrow.

There are three newcomers in the squad in the form of pacer Hasan Mahmud, spinner Hasan Murad and batter Shahadat Hossain Dipu while Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam will have to fill the big shoes left by opener Tamim Iqbal.

In absence of Taskin and Ebadot, the likes of Hasan, Shoriful Islam and Khaled Ahmed will have to take charge of the pace attack in the series.

Coming off the back of a World Cup where the team failed to play to their potential and getting into the Test format was already a challenge. Not having some of the regular Test faces should make the task even more difficult.

"Most of the other players have been playing NCL and as you know it's almost like a new-look Bangladesh team for various reasons, not by design," Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said at the press conference in Sylhet yesterday.

When Hathurusingha arrived in Bangladesh for his second stint, it was being assumed that he would oversee the senior players' final years. With the World Cup target now already out of the way, Hathurusingha feels that time has come to ready the next batch who would take over from the likes of Tamim and Shakib.

"It's challenging to lose that much of experience from any team, especially for Bangladesh as those guys have been part of the team in every format for more than 15 years, some of them for some 10 years. So it's in one side for everybody and for us it's something to look forward to in order to see what the youngsters can do. I think it's time that we move on from some of the players who played for a long time. They are not going to be there forever. But this is happening for many reasons so I think it's exciting and it's an opportunity for some of the youngsters to make their name and have long careers," the Sri Lankan said.

Najmul Hossain Shanto has been appointed as the skipper in Shakib's absence. Hathurusingha suggested that there was no pressure on the new skipper, instead it is an opportunity for.

"No, [pressure] nothing. The new captain, it's an opportunity for him to create his own leadership group, his own way of leading. So he will be different. It's an opportunity for him as well as the other players also to get used to the way he leads. I'm really excited for all these changes," the head coach said, suggesting that a long-term view regarding the Test captaincy is perhaps being considered.

The head coach said that spinners will have a big role but the conditions and wicket remain 'unknown'.

Bangladesh won possibly their greatest match against the Kiwis at Mount Maunganui last year. Shakib and Tamim were missing in that series too but two other seniors -- Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque -- were there and will be available this time as well. But Bangladesh's veterans opting out of one format or the other had created a stir in the past and a new era, if one is to begin, is similar to the unknown conditions the team may face in Sylhet.