Bangladesh are facing a massive selection dilemma ahead of their third and final one-day international against world champions England due to the continuous batting failure of their middle-order trio of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, and Afif Hossain.

Having already lost the series 0-2, the Tigers will be looking to avoid a clean sweep at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.   

The match will begin at 12:00pm, and T Sports GTV will televise the tie live.

Considering their dismal form in the 50-over format, the trio is likely to face the axe as the team needs a fresh impetus ahead of the approaching ICC World Cup 2023, scheduled to be held in India in October-November this year. 

Mushfiq, who hit his last ODI half-century [52 not out] against Zimbabwe at Harare last year, failed to reach 30 in his last five games, which included three against India at home in December last year alongside the two ODIs against the touring England.

In the three ODIs against India, Mushfiq finished with 0, 18, and 12 runs, while against England in the first two ODIs, he could bag only 16 and 4 runs, respectively, and looked completely out of touch against the touring bowling side.

It goes without saying that the 35-year-old batsman completely failed to rescue his team when they needed him most. 

Since July 2022, the wicketkeeper-batsman has managed only 134 runs from eight innings at a poor average of 19.14 alongside 65.68 strike rate.  

Simultaneously, Bangladesh’s other middle-order batsman, Mahmudullah, also failed to put up a decent show in the ongoing series against England, and the way he batted in the first two ties, it appeared that his time was up in the ODIs after he could make only 31 and 32 in the first two games.

Despite making 77 in the second ODI against India last year, the 37-year-old made 14 and 20 in the first and third matches of that series.

Although the right-handed batsman has held the top spot among Bangladesh’s highest run scorers since last July, Mahmudullah has rarely made an impact with the bat in recent times.

Another middle-order batsman, Afif Hossain, is perhaps holding the most vulnerable position in the Bangladesh squad due to his never-ending frustrating run.

The southpaw, who made his ODI debut in March 2020 against Zimbabwe, couldn’t reach the 30-run mark in his last five innings.

The 23-year-old, who made 6, 0, and 8 respectively against India, only managed 9 and 23 against England in the first two ODIs.

Moreover, his ineffective batting also raised some eyebrows regarding his inclusion in the ODI squad.