Tigers eye Tests

The Tigers' limited-overs campaign ended with the one-off T20 International called off due to incessant rain after 17 minutes of play at the Warner Park in St Kitts on Wednesday night.

After being whitewashed in the three-match one-day series, the tourists had a good start in the match as the opening pair of Tamim Iqbal (11) and Anamul Haque (19) posted 31 for no loss in 4.4 overs before the match was called off more than two hours later.

Mithun Ali got his first match of the tour, taking the place of Imrul Kayes, who was dropped following his poor showing in the ODI series, but could not make an appearance in the middle. He is set to return home along with left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and pacers Taskin Ahmed and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who was rested from the lone T20I because of a groin injury and made way for Rubel Hossain.

Mushfiqur Rahim's men will now shift their focus to the longer version with a three-day practice match against St Kitts and Nevis starting from August 30, which will give them an opportunity to fine tune the transition ahead of the two-match Test series against West Indies.

The team management is planning to give Anamul, the opener who hit a hundred in the first ODI, a new role in the batting order in the Test series. The right-hander may bat at number five or six.

After the three-day practice match, the Tigers will fly for St Vincent where they play the first Test from September 5 to 9 and the second and final Test will take place in St Lucia from September 13 to 17.

The struggling Tigers will desperately be looking for some solace in the series before ending their Caribbean trip and everybody will also be looking forward to see how under-fire Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur inspires his side to recover from their lean patch this year. Anything positive to come from the series will put some balm on the wounds and may push the discussions regarding the captaincy of the wicketkeeper-batsman on the backburner for the time being.

Mushfiqur has been appointed captain till the 2015 World Cup but the board members have already discussed the possibility of a split captaincy by giving the limited-overs job to Mashrafe, who will lead the team in the coming Asian Games.

Another failure in the Test series may intensify the whispers about his ineptitude as a captain.