Cricketers began returning to Mirpur yesterday after the Eid holidays as teams started preparation for the resumption of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) on Sunday.

However, the DPL teams will get the services of the Test team cricketers till April 9, as the national team's preparation camp ahead of the two-Test series against Zimbabwe is set to begin in Sylhet on either April 10 or 11.

The series, which will begin on April 20 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, will be the Tigers' first Test encounter against Zimbabwe since July 2021, which they won by 220 runs in Harare.

From then till now, the gulf between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Tests have seemingly widened further, with the Tigers experiencing more success than their African counterparts.

Since March 1, 2021, Bangladesh have won eight out of 29 Tests which included a historical Test win against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, a maiden Test series win over Pakistan in Pakistan and a Test win over West Indies in the Caribbean after 15 years.

On the other hand, since their 10-wicket win over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi in March 2021, Zimbabwe have lost seven out of their next nine Tests and have failed to register any victory in the last four years.

As Bangladesh will be playing at home against a relatively weaker opposition and with a jam-packed schedule coming up where they will play at least 18 Tests in next two years, the question of whether the Tigers should test out some newcomers in the Zimbabwe series automatically rises.

However, selector Abdur Razzak ruled out any chances of experimentation, saying, "Actually, we need to form the team first. There is hardly any scope for experimentation."

Razzak pointed out the lack of experienced Test players as a reason for not wanting to test new players even though there are currently four cricketers in the team – Mushfiqur Rahim (94 Tests), Mominul Haque (69), Taijul Islam (51) and Mehedi Hasan Miraz (51) – who have played more than 50 Tests.

"We hardly have players who have played more than 20 Tests apart from Mushfiqur. So, we need to give the young players exposure in this series to prepare them well for the upcoming big series," Razzak told The Daily Star yesterday.

But former skipper and current Dhanmondi Cricket Club head coach Mohammad Ashraful felt Bangladesh can call up a few players who performed well in the National Cricket League (NCL) against an opposition like Zimbabwe.

"I think those who have done well in the NCL, they have to be given the opportunity here…  I think we can afford to try out two to three players against a team like Zimbabwe," Ashraful told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, Razzak informed that they have almost finalised the squad for the Test series.

"We will submit the names within next one or two days. The board will then decide when they will announce the squad," he said.