Mushfiqur Rahim may not keep wickets during one-off Test against India

Dhaka: Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim may not keep wicket during the one-off cricket Test against India starting next week as he is yet to fully recover from a finger injury, BCB president Nazmul Hassan said. Mushfiqur had sprained his ring finger on his right hand during the Khulna Test against Pakistan in April and even though he played the second Test of that series, he found it difficult to be at his best behind the stumps. [caption id=“attachment_2274650” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Mushfiqur Rahim. AFP[/caption] Mushfiqur has triple roles in the team – captain, batsman and wicketkeeper – and Hassan feels he might need to give up one and it is likely to be wicketkeeping. “There was some talk about removing him as captain, but it wasn’t done by the cricket board,” Hassan said while addressing a press conference in Mirpur yesterday. “If Mushfiqur feels the pressure, he will have to decide on it. He has to take a call on which one he wants. In my opinion the wicketkeeping will come up for consideration first. “As far as I know, he wants to keep wickets. But since he hasn’t fully recovered from injury ahead of this [India] series, there is some doubt about it. He may not keep wickets,” he added. Mushfiqur has been a regular wicketkeeper in the 21 Tests he has captained so far and averaged 38.85 with the bat, which is better than his career batting average of 32.34. In T20s too, Mushfiqur’s batting average is 31.37, better than his average as captain and wicketkeeper – 29.36. Interestingly, the diminutive Bangladesh glovesman averaged 56.23 in 14 ODIs with a century and six fifties after he was removed as ODI captain in September last year. It will be a choice between Anamul Haque and Litton Das, if Mushfiqur decides to give up his role as a wicketkeeper in the Test as the duo were included in Bangladesh’s 23-man preliminary squad for the India series. Considered more of an ODI batsman, Anamul has averaged just 9.12 in four Tests in 2012 and 2013 and the last time he kept wickets in a first-class match was more than a year ago. Litton, on the other hand, was in the Bangladesh squad for the two Tests against Pakistan after an impressive show in the 2014-15 domestic season. He was the top-scorer in the National Cricket League. He has kept wickets in four first-class matches this year. PTI