[Tiger Manc]

With persistent rumours that Bangladesh will start the 1^st Test with 8 batsmen and only 2 front line spinners, why won’t Bangladesh use 3 front line spinners and if so, why take Abdur Razzak ahead of Enamul Haque?

Not only is Enamul Haque a much bigger turner of the ball than Razzak, the stats show that Enamul Haque should’ve been persisted with and not hastily dropped after the Zimbabwe series. He deserved a run in the team, especially after topping the NCL charts 2 years in a row. He’s taken more First Class and Test wickets than Razzak as well as 5 wicket hauls and has a much better average than Razzak too.

I also wanted to point out that Bangladesh’s overall spin attack is far superior than New Zealand’s and surely both Test matches should be spin friendly. With Vettori out of the series, we won’t have a better opportunity to out spin the opposition. Anything other than a spin friendly pitch would be suicidal. Even if all 3 of Martin, Sodhi and Williamson were to play, they would have a combined Test wicket total of 30. Riyad on his own has 28. Enamul Haque has more career 5 wicket hauls than all 3 put together. Ish Sodhi has a First Class average of 52! So it would be a kick in the teeth for us not to take advantage of that! I just feel Bangladesh have missed a trick by not picking Enamul and picking Razzak instead. Don’t get me wrong Razzak has done well in limited overs, but Tests aren’t his speciality. He just doesn’t pose enough trouble for the batsmen and hence his average of 65 in Tests. Even if Razzak isn’t selected, why only pick 2 specialist spinners?


Enamul Haque jnr
First Class Wickets: 355
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 27
First Class Average: 28.70
Test Wickets: 44
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 3
Test Average: 40.61


Abdur Razzak
First Class Wickets: 251
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 11
First Class Average: 27.78
Test Wickets: 18
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 0
Test Average: 65.83


Sohag Gazi
First Class Wickets: 137
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 11
First Class Average: 26.54
Test Wickets: 26
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 1
Test Average: 37.23


Shakib al Hasan
First Class Wickets: 205
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 14
First Class Average: 30.25
Test Wickets: 106
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 9
Test Average: 32.79


Bruce Martin
First Class Wickets: 330
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 18
First Class Average: 36.14
Test Wickets: 10
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 0
Test Average: 47.10



Ish Sodhi
First Class Wickets: 27
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 1
First Class Average: 52.14
Test Wickets: 0
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 0
Test Average: N/A


Kane Williamson
First Class Wickets: 69
Career 5 Wicket Hauls: 1
First Class Average: 41.46
Test Wickets: 20
Test 5 Wicket Hauls: 0
Test Average: 32.95