The Bangladesh spinners struggle in away Tests
While they have shown marked signs of improvement and competing with the top teams at home, they have remained abjectly poor away from it.
Bangladesh in Tests have been an enigma.
While they have shown marked signs of improvement and competing with the top teams at home, they have remained abjectly poor away from it.
One of the biggest reasons for that has been down to the bowling attack which has been rendered moot in conditions they are not entirely familiar with.
There has been plenty of talk about the pace bowling unit and that not being anywhere good enough for the longest format but then the spinners have also been under-par in foreign soil.
With the Tigers' best player Shakib Al Hasan banned from all forms of cricket for a year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Bangladesh have been in dire need of a leader for their bowling line-up.
The mantle has therefore gone to the player with the most amount of experience and the most number of wickets in the current squad, Taijul Islam.
Taijul, however, has not been among the wickets in the recent series against India where Bangladesh were comprehensively defeated in both Tests.
The off-spinner's numbers also prove that he's been a home-track bully of sorts.
He's played 18 games at home taking 87 wickets at an average of 27.04 but away from home he's played nine Tests and only managed 19 wickets at an average of 59.05.
The other spinner in the side is off-spinner Nayeem Hasan and he has played only four Tests so far.
Three of those have been played at home and while did play one Test against India in India, he was substituted off after being hit on the helmet while batting and never got a chance to bowl.
His bowling figures are so far decent as he has taken ten wickets with an average of 23.70 in his short bowling career.
But he is still an unproven quantity away from home and as a result much of the onus will lie on the shoulders of Taijul Islam.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz would have been another option, but he too has struggled away from home and subsequently been dropped from the Test squad.
A few good performances in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) might get him back in contention for the second Test.
But the fact remains that Bangladesh's bowling remains a major problem in Tests.
It's not just the pacers, but also the spinners that have tended to struggle away from home.
There are four other bowlers in the squad and they are all pacers in Abu Jayed Rahi, Ebadot Hossain, Rubel Hossain and Al-Amin Hossain.
One would expect two of them to make the final XI and Rubel and Ebadot might be the two that get the nod, but it would be harsh on Rahi, as he too has been a consistent performer with the ball, especially in seamer-friendly conditions.
The first Test begins on Friday at Rawalpindi and will be Bangladesh's third Test in the ICC World Test Championship, where Bangladesh are yet to register any points.
They will be hoping that the bowling can deliver the goods, though the chances of the happening seem bleak.