India Tour of Bangladesh 2015: Mushfiqur Rahim Unlikely to Keep Wickets in One-Off Test

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim may not keep wickets during the one-off Test match against India that starts from 10 June.  

Rahim had sprained his finger during the first Test at Khulna against Pakistan few days ago and is yet to recover from it, said the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan. 

Rahim had played the second Test match against Pakistan with the injury but was uncomfortable keeping wickets during that match.

Rahim has to play three roles for his team against India in the upcoming series – of captain, batsman and wicketkeeper. But in order to play in the one-off Test match, he may have to give up one of the roles and that is likely to be wicket-keeping. 

"There was some talk about removing him as captain, but it wasn't done by the cricket board. 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," Hassan told reporters at a press conference in Mirpur on Monday.

Rahim, who will be a crucial member of the resurrected Bangladesh squad, has an impeccable record. He has led Bangladesh in 21 Test matches so far and surprisingly, has averaged 38.85 with the bat, more than his career average. The Bangladesh star wicket-keeper was stripped of captaincy for the ODIs last year, despite averaging 56.23 in 14 ODIs that included a century as well.

Paceman Mashrafe Mortaza is the current ODI skipper, who led Bangladesh to the quarter finals of the World Cup this year and also helped his country trounce Pakistan in the recently-concluded ODI series.

If Rahim gives up the job of wicket-keeping during the one-off Test match against India, Bangladesh selectors will have to decide between Anamul Haque and Litton Das, as both were included in Bangladesh's 23-man preliminary squad for India's tour.

Anamul's Test record does not speak well of him, as he only averaged 9.12 in four Test matches in 2012 and 2013. Litton has had an impressive run in the domestic season, prompting the Bangladesh Cricket Board selectors to pick him for the Pakistan tour.