Liton Das is set to make his debut as Test captain, standing-in for Shakib Al Hasan who is out injured, as the Bangladesh squad was announced yesterday for the lone Test against Afghanistan, to be held in Dhaka from June 14.

Promising acer Mushfik Hasan and middle-order batter Shahadat Hossain Dipu was named in the 15-member Bangladesh squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium starting on June 14, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Sunday. 

Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, a revered figure in the sporting fraternity and a mentor of many cricketers here, once closely monitored women's cricket as its wing development manager. The veteran coach identified some vital issues that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) should give highest priority in order to ensure proper growth of women's cricket in the country. The excerpts of his observations are as follows:

Despite showing huge potential after winning the Women's Asia Cup in 2018, the Bangladesh national cricket team were unable to capitalise on the triumph to take things to the next level. The Daily Star's Ekush Tapader spoke to the chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's women's wing, Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, to get an overview of the women cricketers, their current state and the future plan regarding them during an exclusive interview. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

The 2018 Asia Cup triumph was a watershed moment for women's cricket. It turned heads, showed that women cricketers in the country can bring glory to the nation despite taking a backseat to the men's game in terms of the magnitude of facilities, fan following, and so forth. Five years on, there is a certain stagnation with little progress.

Mahmudul Hasan Joy’s fourth first-class ton starred as Bangladesh A staged a turnaround with the bat in the fourth innings against West Indies A to help the hosts draw the third and final four-day Test at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Former South Africa batter Nic Pothas was appointed assistant coach of Bangladesh and deputy to head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and, with the Sri Lankan still on vacation, Pothas has been overseeing the Tigers' training camp. In his first interaction with the media, he joked about having a magic wand that could fix Test batting woes.

The Asia Cup has been thrown into doubt, especially since PTI reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would not support the Pakistan Cricket Board's hybrid model, which would see a few matches played in Pakistan while India's matches and the final would be held at neutral venues

Shoriful Islam has been a part of Bangladesh's confident pace-bowling unit that has been improving leaps and bounds in recent years. The left-arm seamer has emerged as a multi-format pacer for the Tigers since making his debut in 2021 and spoke to The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin about his bowling and a few other topics during an exclusive interview. The excerpts are below:

The mantra for top cricketers in the world as they look to sustain success is a constant drive to develop new skills. There are innumerable instances of highly-talented players starting off their international career with a bang but failing to carry on for an extended period of time due to not improving their skills and becoming predictable. Modern technology has made things even harder, with opponents analysing even the slightest details and preparing accordingly.

Chairman of the High-Performance Committee Naimur Rahman Durjoy lamented how Bangladesh's cricketing infrastructure is still lacking in a few aspects, pointing out the issues it brings especially during the rainy season.

Bangladesh Cricket Board director and Chairman of High-Performance Committee Naimur Rahman Durjoy and newly-appointed head coach of HP David Hemp were in tune at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday as they both walked along the same lines saying that it is the players who must take initiative to go onto the next stage after training under the HP program. 

Bangladesh speedster Taskin Ahmed is gearing up to get fit for the home series against Afghanistan in June-July after suffering a side strain ahead of the one-off Test against Ireland last month.

The ongoing three-match four-day series between Bangladesh A and their visiting West Indies counterparts emerged as a good scope for good match preparation for a few in Bangladesh's Test team ahead of the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan next month.

The number seven spot in Bangladesh's batting order has come into focus ahead of the World Cup, with several players vying for the important position. The experienced Mahmudullah Riyad is waiting in the wings alongside younger stars like Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali and Mosaddek Hossain.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon admitted that he is still in the dark regarding where the upcoming Asia Cup will be played.

Bangladesh clinched two very close games against Ireland and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was adjudged the player of the tournament for his vital contributions with the bat, opined that digging in for the wins in difficult scenarios would be useful to their World Cup campaign.

Bangladesh national cricket team returned to the country after beating Ireland 2-0 in their last World Cup Super League series in Chelmsford on Tuesday evening.

Injury and Taskin Ahmed have been the close associates of each other ever since the pacer made his international debut. Taskin who is recovering from a side strain injury is gearing up to return even stronger as the 28 year old who has been a revolution in the Tigers pace bowling unit spoke about his bowling, plans over the upcoming World Cup along with a few other topics during an exclusive interview with The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin.

The Ireland series provided big lessons in terms of the mentality required at the global stage regardless of Bangladesh's dominance in the ODI format and the Tigers ended things on a positive note in two tight contests. The series will serve as a boost to World Cup preparations with a few matters left to be resolved, most importantly the squad for the World Cup in India.