Sunil Joshi appointed Bangladesh spin consultant for series against Australia
What's the story?
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has appointed former Indian left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi as the national team's spin consultant for the upcoming two-match Test series against Australia.
The move comes following the news that the original choice for the post, Stuart McGill, the former Australian leg-spinner, had backed out citing personal reasons.
Joshi is set to fly out to Dhaka in the early hours of Tuesday to join up with the Bangladesh side ahead of the first Test against Australia which begins on Sunday.
“It is an exciting opportunity for me, and I am looking forward to working with the Bangladesh spinners who I believe have what it takes to continue to make waves on the world stage,” Joshi told Wisden India on Monday evening.
“I have obviously seen plenty of Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain, and I have followed the progress of Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam with great interest,” he added.
In case you didn't know...
Joshi was named as the spin bowling coach of Bangladesh ahead of their one-off Test against India in Hyderabad earlier this year.
The move had failed to materialize though due to unknown reasons but the BCB have ensured that there will be no hiccups this time around having already missed out on the services of McGill.
The details
Though the first Test between Bangladesh and Australia begins in less than a week's time, Joshi is confident of helping out the spinners in the side in the practice sessions leading up to the match in Dhaka.
The 47-year-old emphasised that spinners have been key to Bangladesh's improved showing in the Test arena, especially the victory over England at home in 2016 and away to Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Joshi is confident that the team has it in them to upset the mighty Aussies at home but confirmed that he would be joining up with the Bangladesh side solely for this series.
Joshi's appointment means that the Bangladesh-Australia series will have an interesting Indian combat off the field with Sridharan Sriram acting as the spin bowling coach of the Australian cricket team.
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What's next?
Australia will get their preparation for the Test series against Bangladesh underway with a two-day practice match against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI on Tuesday.
The first Test between Australia and Bangladesh will begin on August 27 at Dhaka, while the second Test will be played at Chittagong beginning on September 4.
Author's take
The addition of Sunil Joshi as the team's spin consultant will further bolster the impressive support staff of the Bangladesh Cricket team who have made tremendous progress under head coach Chandrika Hathurusingha and bowling coach, Courtney Walsh.
Australia has found the going tough in Asian conditions and it will be interesting to see how this series unfolds with two Indians in Joshi and Sriram on opposing corners trying to help out their teams battle for spin supremacy.