Mushtaq Ahmed re-joins Bangladesh camp for South Africa Tests

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed will return to the Bangladesh coaching setup for the two-Test series against South Africa starting October 21 (Monday) after missing the Test series against India in September due to other commitments.

Cricbuzz have confirmed that Mushtaq, who was the Tigers’ spin consultant during the successful tour of Pakistan and also the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, will be assisting the Bangladesh spinners for the South Africa Tests. In fact, the 54-year-old is already believed to have joined the Tigers’ camp, which has a brand new head coach in the form of Phil Simmons, who has replaced the departing Chandika Hathurusinghe.

"He [Mushtaq] is here for this [South Africa] series. This year, whenever he is available and does not have any prior commitments, he will work series by series with us. Right now, he is here. We'll see what happens in the next series," a BCB official told Cricbuzz.

Bangladesh have picked three specialist spinners, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, and Hasan Murad, apart from the off-spinning all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, for the two-match series against the Proteas. Murad has come in as a late replacement for Shakib Al Hasan, who withdrew from the squad after being initially picked for the first Test.

The first Test will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. South Africa are still in contention to make it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). 

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