Bangladesh weigh extra pacer for Sylhet Test after West Indies’ spinners out-bowled theirs in Mirpur

Why the spin plan is going

Bangladesh played on a spin-friendly pitch in Mirpur and were beaten at their own game. West Indies’ spinners took 16 wickets to their eight, Roston Chase finished with 5 for 36 in the eight-wicket defeat, and Bangladesh managed 272 and 142.

“An all-out spin attack won’t help us because we don’t play spin all that well either,” a member of the selection panel told The Daily Star, without being named. The same selector said the side could have gone in without tension had Nahid Rana been available. He is not in the squad, so the extra pace would come from Ebadot or Taskin. The report does not say which spinner would make way.

A green pitch, with a warning attached

The players looked at a greenish strip on Tuesday, their first day of training at the ground, and spoke to head curator Tony Hemming. “Till now it’s a grassy wicket, so let’s see after a day or two passes,” Amite Hasan told reporters.

That caution is sensible. The Mirpur pitch also looked green a few days before the first Test, and Chase said the grass came off just before it began. Thursday morning’s surface is the one that counts.

Sylhet’s record gives Bangladesh a reason to try it, though. They have won three and lost three of their six Tests at the ground, and the last two, against Pakistan and Ireland, were convincing wins on sporting pitches. Two of the defeats came against Zimbabwe, in 2018 and 2025. The usual pattern is early help for seamers, with spin coming in later.

Mushfiqur back, and a question at No. 3

Mushfiqur Rahim is set to return after missing Mirpur with a finger injury. The Daily Star has Najmul Hossain Shanto at No. 3, followed by Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur and Litton Das. That is a shift from Tuesday, when Amite, who came in for the concussed Mominul Haque, was the one being talked about at three.

Nothing is settled. Bangladesh changed their side late before the first Test and could do it again.

West Indies have the quicks for it

The selector saw the problem too: on a sporting pitch, Bangladesh also have to deal with Kemar Roach, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves. A plan built to escape West Indies’ spinners may simply bring their seamers into the game.

This Test ends West Indies’ World Test Championship cycle. They are eighth on 26.92 per cent, the ICC said, and coach Daren Sammy wants to go out with a result: “we’ll be ready to finish this Test cycle with an away win in Bangladesh, and they are not easy (to beat) at home.” He also expects a reaction from Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons: “he will not make it easy.”

What happens next

The Test runs from 5 to 9 November. Bangladesh were fifth on 47.62 per cent after Mirpur. If it goes the distance they have five days before the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers on 15 November, so any seamer who bowls long spells in Sylhet has little time to recover for a pace contest there.

Market watch

• Wait for the toss. An extra seamer in the XI is the clearest sign of what Bangladesh have seen in the pitch, and first-innings totals will shift with it.
• Don’t read too much into the grass today. Mirpur’s pitch changed before the first ball, and Sylhet’s could too.
• Seam suits both sides, so a change of attack does not by itself make Bangladesh more likely to win. West Indies arrive with the series lead and a settled pace group.

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Top image: Photo: Rocky Masum / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons