Who gets the axe when Tamim, Mushfiq and Liton return to the T20I side?
In the absence of Tamim and Liton, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Naim opened the innings for Bangladesh in this series and the recently concluded Zimbabwe tour. The duo did reasonably well in Zimbabwe but against Australia, they failed miserably.
Bangladesh have created history by beating Australia 4-1 in the five-match T20I series. Australia missed the services of a lot of big names but were still a very good side. Bangladesh too had to field a depleted side. The home side were without key performers in the form of Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim.
In the absence of Tamim and Liton, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Naim opened the innings for Bangladesh in this series and the recently concluded Zimbabwe tour. The duo did reasonably well in Zimbabwe but against Australia, they failed miserably.
Soumya, in particular, was in horrific form and couldn't even reach the double figures in four games. He was given a different role in the fifth match but he couldn't score more than 16 off 18 balls.
On the other hand, Naim got off to good starts in at least three games but wasn't able to carry on. Most of his runs came from boundaries and he visibly struggled to rotate the strike, especially against quality fast bowlers. The left-hander batted at a strike rate of only 88.
With Liton Das returning in the next series, Soumya Sarkar is likely to get the axe.
Naim might just retain his place until Tamim recovers from injury. The current ODI skipper will certainly be back opening the innings in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE and should be partnered by Liton Das.
Mahmudullah, the current T20 captain, promoted himself to number four in the series since Mushfiqur Rahim missed out. Mushfiqur has batted at four and five regularly throughout his T20I career and established himself as one of the most consistent performers for Bangladesh.
When he is back, Mahmudullah is most likely to move down the order and play the role of a finisher.
Nurul Hasan has done quite well with the bat and kept brilliantly in the series. Afif Hossain also batted sensationally well and since he bats at number seven in ODIs, he should be entrusted with the number seven position in T20Is as well. In that case, Nurul has to bat at five.
Bangladesh tried Shamim Hossain lower down the order in the first four matches and with Mushfiqur returning, he might be left out.