 Zimbabwe will take on Bangladesh in the one-off Test match that will be
played at Harare from August 4. This is the first Test match that Zimbabwe
will be playing since they quit playing in the longer format of the game in 2005.
Six years on, they seem to think that they have the team to take on the Bangladeshis
in the one-off Test match before the start of the rest of the limited overs games
in the series.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh
The good news for Zimbabwe will be the fact that the second Zimbabwe XI have been
able to beat the Bangladeshis in the tour game in three days. Despite being bowled
out for 113 in the first innings, the Zimbabwe XI managed to fight back by restricting
the lead to 75 only and then chasing down 225 needed for the win.
The Zimbabweans named their squad based on the result and had four players featuring
in their squad from the ones that played in the tour game. Their squad is as follows:
Brendan Taylor (c), Tatenda Taibu (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Regis Chakabva,
Hamilton Masakadza, Tino Mawoyo, Craig Ervine, Chris Mpofu, Keegan Meth,
Vusi Sibanda, Ray Price, Brian Vitori, Prosper Utseya.
Taylor will be leading the team for the first time, after Prosper Utseya and Elton
Chigumbura had both given up on their captaincy to concentrate on their respective
arts.
Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan has already claimed that the Bangladeshis
will be favourites to win the game, but they need to be careful. The pitches
at Harare don't offer too much help to the spin bowlers, something that they
heavily rely on, which means that they will need to rely on their fast bowlers.
Bangladesh will go into the tour without the presence of Mashrafe Mortaza
and Shahdahat Hossain, two of their best ever pace bowlers.
Bangladesh have a new coach in Stuart Law, and it will be interesting to see how
he goes with a team which has been notorious for being slow learners. Bangladesh
has struggled at the start of tours outside the sub-continent and to add to that,
there will be a lot more bounce on the pitch for the batsmen to contend with -
making it difficult for them.
Bangladesh will rely on the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal
in their batting even as Shakib tries to juggle around his responsibilities
as a batsman, bowler and a captain of the side.
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