Bangladesh name their first Test team

Naimur Rahman will lead the Bangladesh cricket team into history at Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka, on November 10.

The 27 year-old all-rounder is captain of a fourteen-man squad, announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday, from which the world's tenth Test nation's inaugural Test match eleven will be chosen.

Rahman joins an exclusive club of cricketers who have led their nation into its first Test match: Dave Gregory (Australia), James Lillywhite (England), Owen Dunell (South Africa), Karl Nunes (West Indies), Tom Lowry (New Zealand), CK Nayudu (India), AH Kardar (Pakistan), Bandula Warnapura (Sri Lanka) and David Houghton (Zimbabwe).

Four players have been axed from the squad that recently returned from an unsuccessful tour of Kenya and South Africa - Habibul Bashar, Enamul Hoque, Mushfiqur Rahman and Ehsanul Haq. The pacier bounce of South African pitches was cited as one of the reasons for the Bangladesh's team poor showing on tour, which included dismissal for less than 60 runs in two consecutive oneday matches.

Experienced batsmen Shahriar Hossain and Mehrab Hossain, who both missed the African tour through injury, are recalled, but two new inclusions have raised some eyebrows.

Rajin Salam, a right-handed batsman who turns seventeen on November 20, has been named in the squad of fourteen, along with off-spinner Fahim Muntasir. Rajin Salam represented Bangladesh in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, while Fahim appeared in the same tournament two years earlier, when Bangladesh defeated the West Indies to win the Plate final.

Although Fahim has yet to appear in a one-day international, he did make one first-class appearance for Bangladesh against West Indies 'A' in November 1998.

All-rounder Minhajul Abedin's offer to come out of retirement to bolster the Bangladesh batting was rejected by the BCB after he declined to make himself available for both Tests and one-day internationals. The 35 year-old veteran of 27 ODI's retired after the 1999 World Cup.

Imran Sarwar continues as coach amid reports that the Bangladesh Cricket Board are seeking another foreign coach as a long-term replacement for Eddie Barlow.

The Bangladesh squad for the Dutch Bangla Test, to give its naming rights sponsorship title, is: Naimur Rahman (capt), Shahriar Hossain, Mehrab Hossain, Javed Omar, Al Shahriar Rokon, Aminul Islam, Akram Khan, Khaled Mashud, Fahim Muntasir, Mohammad Rafique, Hasibul Hossain, Manjurul Islam, Mikash Ranjan Das and Rajin Saleh Alam.