ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Bangladesh’s final preparations for Friday’s one-off Test have centred on the expected Afghan spin threat and helping six players adjust quickly from a rain-hit Asian Games campaign in Japan to the UAE heat.
Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud and Tanzid Hasan joined the squad on Tuesday. They took part in Bangladesh’s first full-squad training session on Wednesday after persistent rain restricted their practice time in Japan, according to The Daily Star.
The rest of the Test group had already spent several days training in Abu Dhabi and played a two-day warm-up match against the United Arab Emirates that ended in a draw on Monday. The late arrivals therefore had two full training days in the UAE before the match, while their team-mates had longer to acclimatise.
Simmons said the surface looked good but could become slow. He said Bangladesh had prepared for Afghanistan’s spin attack, even though Rashid Khan has been rested from Test cricket on medical advice.
Afghanistan’s squad includes leg-spinner Qais Ahmad and recalled slow bowlers Zia Ur Rahman Akbar and Khalil Gurbaz. The Afghanistan Cricket Board said Zia had returned after almost a year out of international cricket because of injury, while Khalil was recalled after previously joining the Test squad for the 2024 Ireland match.
Rahmat will lead Afghanistan in a Test for the first time since being appointed the full-time captain, with wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil as his deputy. The match is Afghanistan’s first Test against Bangladesh at a neutral venue and begins on 9 October.
The two sides have split their previous Tests. Afghanistan won by 224 runs in Chattogram in 2019, before Bangladesh answered with a 546-run victory in Mirpur in 2023 — then the largest Test win by runs in the 21st century.
Sources: The Daily Star, ACB, ICC match centre, ICC 2019 record, ICC 2023 record.
