After a memorable win in the ODI series against South Africa, Bangladesh will now take on the Proteas in the first Test of the two-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Tuesday. Mushfiqur Rahim, who is one of the best batsmen of the host line-up does not want to risk his fingers and is likely to hand over the keeping-gloves to Litton Das.
Rahim suggested that he has not healed from the finger injury completely. He took a blow in one of his fingers during the Test series against Pakistan earlier this year.
"I haven't recovered fully from the hand injury. One has to keep wickets for five days in a Test match, which makes it a bit risky. Because he [Litton] kept wickets well in the last matches, we are hoping that he will keep wickets in this game. We still have to consider the team combination," Mushfiqur said in an interview to Espn Cricinfo.
Surprisingly, Rahim kept wickets in the two T20s and three ODIs against South Africa recently. But now he feels that he should not be taking a risk as his side would need him to come in handy with his willow against the South African quicks.
Meanwhile, the hosts are busy preparing for the first Test against the Proteas. The main strength lies in pace for the visitors and the Bangladeshi players and coach Chandika Hathurusinghe are well aware of that.
"The biggest challenge will be their bowlers. They have a world-class attack in Tests. How our batsmen handle their fast bowlers will have a big impact on the outcome. We have to play to our potential. Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque are world-class as well. Then we have Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan. But this is what you get at the top of cricket. The battle will be at the start of the game. Reverse swing may come into play in the last two days. SG balls tend to reverse," Hathurusinghe told Espn Cricinfo.
