Shakib and Mithun are backup openers for T20Is against Australia: Domingo
Tamim and Liton usually open the innings in T20Is for Bangladesh and in their absence against Zimbabwe, Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar opened the innings.
Bangladesh will be facing Australia in T20Is for the first time in a bilateral series but they will miss the services of some key players in the form of Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Tamim and Liton usually open the innings in T20Is for Bangladesh and in their absence against Zimbabwe, Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar opened the innings. They performed decently but the series against Australia is a different challenge altogether and with Soumya nursing a strain, Bangladesh might find it difficult to find out a suitable opening combination that will have to face Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo, however, is not too worried about it and said that Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Mithun can open the innings if needed. "We've got a longer order. Obviously, Shakib is there and he can move to the opening position. Mohammad Mithun is a middle-order batter but can do the job as well."
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The last time Bangladesh faced Australia was in 2016 in the ICC World T20. Tamim Iqbal missed out due to fever and stomach ache. Mohammad Mithun opened the innings and scored 23 off 22 in that match.
Domingo mentioned that Starc and Hazlewood are dangerous bowlers but the batters should play the ball according to its merit. "Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood are quality bowlers and we have looked at some of their footage. But at the end of the day, you will play the ball, not the man. End of the day they are humans and will bowl some bad balls. We got to play with a clear mind and have to put away the bad balls. We know they are quality bowlers but at the end of the day you have to play the ball, not the man," he said.
