In Bangladesh’s T20 matches, a curious pattern has emerged: on the days when Tanzid Tamim performs well, Parvez Hossain Emon fails to score and vice versa. If Emon’s bat is raining boundaries, Tanzid might not even open his account. This has almost become routine. Still, it’s worked out quite well for the team at least for now, there’s no real dilemma over the opening pair. For a side that had long struggled to find a settled T20 opening partnership, these two left-handers have brought some much-needed stability.
In 2025 so far, the Tanzid-Emon duo has opened in nine innings. Their highest stand was 110 runs, with a total of 244 runs across all innings. While the numbers aren’t overwhelming, they’ve crossed the 50-run mark only once though that was also a century partnership. They’ve had two other stands exceeding 40. Based on these stats, they’ve done just enough to pass. But if either of them gets injured or becomes unavailable, who steps in as the backup opener?
With the Asia Cup knocking on the door preceded by a home series against the Netherlands there isn’t much room for experimentation, nor does the team management appear inclined toward it. When it comes to backup openers, two names continue to surface: Naim Sheikh and Soumya Sarkar.
Naim made his return to international cricket after three years during the T20I series in Sri Lanka, where he played just one match. Even then, he had to give up his preferred opening position due to team combination and batted at number four. His unbeaten 32 off 29 balls wasn’t exactly explosive by T20 standards. He didn’t get a chance in the rest of that series, but he did play two matches in the home series against Pakistan. On the tricky Mirpur surface, the left-hander failed in both games. To be fair, others like Emon and Saim Ayub flourished on the same pitch, which drew its share of criticism.
Amid that criticism, Naim was effectively sidelined again. He’s now been sent to Australia to play in the Top End T20 tournament with the Bangladesh ‘A’ team. Still, he’s in the preliminary squad for the Asia Cup. If he performs well in those different conditions, he might be considered for the Netherlands series and possibly the Asia Cup.
At least Naim went through a process, made a return, and was dropped again. But Soumya Sarkar’s exclusion has remained largely unexplained by the selectors.
His omission from the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour raised eyebrows among journalists, especially since he had produced a couple of solid innings in the white-ball series against the West Indies. Still, the BCB selectors claimed that Soumya wasn’t a match fit. Yet, just days later, the left-hander flew to Guyana to play in the Global Super League for Rangpur Riders. Rumours circulated that Soumya’s exclusion may have been due to pressure from a BCB director and the franchise’s preference to have him available.
Soumya, too, is in the preliminary squad for the Asia Cup. He joined the fitness camp on Wednesday. Before that, he was seen training, running and batting at the Mirpur stadium on his own. He’s likely to be included in the squad for the upcoming series against the Netherlands. If he manages to score runs on the flat Sylhet pitches, a ticket to the Asia Cup may well be on the cards.
Notably, Soumya offers more versatility than Naim; he can bat in the middle order as well, and has done so in the past. His medium pace bowling can also serve as a handy option if the captain needs a couple of overs. All things considered, Soumya currently seems to be slightly ahead of Naim in the race to become Bangladesh’s backup opener for the Asia Cup.