ABDULLAH AL MEHDI

Anamul Haque Bijoy’s name resurfacing in the national squad often sparks mixed reactions. Since his Test debut back in 2013, the opener has appeared in just five Test matches over a span of 12 years, managing an average of only 10. It’s no surprise, then, that each return raises more eyebrows than optimism.

The reaction may seem odd given Bijoy’s enviable domestic record, yet his repeated chances across formats often felt like squandered opportunities or mismatches with the team plans.

His most recent outing in national colours came against Sri Lanka in Chattogram last year. Prior to that, he had earned a spot in the ODI side following a prolific Dhaka Premier League (DPL) season, but could not cement his place. After being dropped following India’s 2022 tour of Bangladesh, he briefly returned for a dead-rubber clash in Asia Cup 2023 -- then vanished from the radar again.

His Test career has been even more fragmented. His last four innings -- scores of 9, 0, 23, and 4 against the West Indies played between 2014 to 2022-- did little to help his case. So why bring him back now?

This year’s DPL certainly has the answer. Bijoy has piled up nearly 900 runs, scoring back-to-back hundreds to reignite selectors’ interest. With Bangladesh’s top-order woes persisting, the door creaked open -- and Bijoy walked through it once more.

He had also toured Pakistan with the A team during the senior side’s successful Test campaign last year. The idea, according to selectors, was to groom players who might be needed as backups.

“The process that anyone needs to be under in the national side, Bijoy was within that process,” chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu told The Daily Star.

Last National Cricket League (NCL), Bijoy scored 700 runs with six fifties and a ton, averaging over 50. Selectors believe it is a “new beginning” for the 32-year-old opener.

“It’s something like the last window -- if he gets a chance now, he may be able to widen that window of opportunity. We also needed to protect our number three, four and five, and his ball selection or leaving deliveries -- he has that skill.”

The circumstances in which Bijoy has been pushed in and out of the national fold have been largely reactionary -- bordering on impulsive. Previously, strong red-ball performances in domestic cricket earned him call-ups for white-ball series. Now, in a twist of irony, it’s his white-ball form that has handed him a Test recall.

“Bijoy had not done badly in the NCL but the thing where we lack, especially in temperament, he is in good shape -- despite DPL being a different format.

“We felt that, whether white-ball or red-ball [format], when someone has occupied the crease for the longest, he is the most deserving candidate.”

It is as if the selectors have kept the ‘Bijoy card’ tucked away as a convenient stop-gap solution -- a move driven more by need than by belief, and with little patience shown for the right-hander.

“It’s true, when he got small windows of opportunity, he has not been able to become a strong contender [for the national side], but we are hoping for the best,” Lipu concluded.

While his return may look like a one-off decision, there are whispers that Bijoy could be included in the upcoming A team tour -- a sign that the selectors are willing to give this chapter a few more pages.