Bangladesh's Ebadot Hossain to miss Australia Tests: Here's why
What's the story
Bangladesh's pace spearhead, Ebadot Hossain, is set to miss the upcoming Test series against Australia. The two-match series is scheduled to begin on August 13 in Darwin as part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship. However, Ebadot will not be part of the squad as he prepares to welcome his first child in Bangladesh. Here are more details.
Injury concerns
Nahid Rana's availability uncertain for 1st Test
Along with Ebadot's absence, Bangladesh are also uncertain about the availability of star pacer Nahid Rana for the first Test.
The team is awaiting the results of scans on his side injury.
Despite these setbacks, there is some optimism as experienced batter Litton Das is expected to recover from a calf complaint in time for the series.
Information
Credentials of Hossain and Rana
Hossain is an active member of Bangladesh's Test side at present, having played his last white-ball game in 2023. The pacer owns 43 wickets from 24 Tests, including a fifer. Meanwhile, Rana has emerged as one of the fastest bowlers across formats.
Pre-series plans
Three-day warm-up match in Darwin
Bangladesh are set to arrive in Australia early next month.
The team will play a three-day warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI in Darwin from August 3.
This practice session will be crucial ahead of the first Test at the same venue.
Batting coach Mohammad Ashraful is hopeful that all players will be fit and available for selection by then.
Batting confidence
Ashraful confident despite batting unit's struggles
Despite the team's recent struggles in a Test against Zimbabwe, Ashraful remains confident about the batting unit.
He believes they can bounce back against Australia, citing their impressive performance in Bangladesh's 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan in May.
"One series can go wrong; one Test match went bad, but in the four Tests before that, our batters played extremely well," he said.