The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced that there will be a change in the coaching staff as Bangladesh get ready to face Zimbabwe for a two-match Test series later this April.  Sohel Islam, a well-known local teacher, will bowl spin for this match instead of Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been given some time off.

Mushtaq became a coach for the Tigers last year and has a deal that runs through the T20 World Cup.  Because he did such a great job with the spin unit, BCB extended his contract, which now lets him work up to 130 days a year.  But the board doesn't think he needs to be there for the Zimbabwe series, so they've decided to switch up the coaches and put Sohel Islam in charge.

Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the Chairman of BCB's Cricket Operations, told Prothom Alo in a statement that Mushtaq is still under contract and that this choice is more about rotation than removal.  He stated that Sohel Islam will be in charge of teaching spin for the Tests in Zimbabwe.

Sohel Islam is used to the way things work in the country.  He has worked with the Bangladesh Tigers before, in both the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), and he filled in for former spin coach Daniel Vettori when he was sent on international duties.  He is a good choice for this short-term job because he knows how the system works and gets along with the players.

At the same time, the national team's training camp for the Test series has already begun in Sylhet.  A lot of players are in camp right now, like Mushfiqur Rahim, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Hasan Mahmud, and Nazmul Hossain Shanto.  The goal of these early practices is to give players enough time to get used to the new teaching changes and improve their skills.

Along with the new spin coach, James Pamment was recently hired by the BCB as the new catching coach.  As part of the board's larger plan to improve the support staff system, talks are still going on about hiring a new pace bowling coach.

The first Test match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is set to start on April 20 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.  Both teams will go to Chattogram for the second and last game of the series after the first Test.