Sports Desk: Selectors said on Thursday they were weighing up their options to find a replacement of their regular opener Tamim Iqbal in their forthcoming one-off Test series against Afghanistan, starting on September 5 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Tamim had asked for a break from the Test series and the following tri-nation Twenty20 tournament in order to overcome his recent bad patch, leaving the slot open.

Soumya Sarkar, who scored a hundred in Bangladesh’s last Test series against New Zealand batting at number five, is expected to join Shadman Islam in the opening slot, though they had some other options.

Jahurul Islam did well in recent domestic matches to draw the attention of the selectors, who also kept an eye on young batsmen Saif Hasan and Nazmul Hossain.

Former Under-19 skipper Saif scored record 814 runs in the last Dhaka Premier League and did also well in recent one-day series against visiting Sri Lanka Emerging Team.

Nazmul is leading the Bangladesh Emerging Team in the ongoing four-day match against their Sri Lankan counterparts where he also scored a century in the first innings to stake his claim.

The selectors are expected to announce the Test squad today when they are expected to give an idea about the new opening pair in Tamim’s absence.

‘There are few players from HP who are playing very good cricket. Shanto [Nazmul Hossain] is also doing well. We have kept these in our heads,’ said chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

‘We have discussed with the coach, the team management about what kind of team we want. We are still discussing about it and will finalise it tomorrow [today],’ he added.

Despite having some dilemma about the opening pair, one thing is all but certain, which is the starting role of Shadman.

Although Shadman made his Test debut only last year and represented Bangladesh in just three Test matches, his performance in those matches gave the selectors some sort of assurance about his quality.

The 24-year old said he was taking his preparation in his own way to face Afghanistan bowlers in the contest.

‘In my debut Test, I didn’t get Tamim bhai and opened the innings with

Soumya bhai. I will try to bat in my own way. My plan will be similar like before – as like I play in first-class or for A team,’ he said.

Sadman said he didn’t find Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan much of a threat for them in the Test match.

‘I am not worrying much about Rashid Khan…Bowling at shorter format and Test format are two different things. We are not thinking much of it,’ he said.

‘We face good number of quality spinners at home and I don’t think Rashid Khan will give us any extra pressure,’ he added.