Bangladesh's eminent coach Nazmul Abedin Fahim advised Afif Hossain to stick with his plan to bat at the number seven spot instead of any other position that would help him greatly along with the side.

The Bangladesh team management is undergoing a sweet pain after having a sizeable number of options for this position [7] for the last couple of years.

Alongside the veteran Mahmudullah, now they also have Afif, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Yasir Ali, Mosaddek Hossain, and Mohammad Saifuddin, like tried-and-tested campaigners, to play at seven.

However, given others recent dismal outings at the spot in recent times, they opted for Mehidy Hasan, who repaid their faith by performing brilliantly at this position.

Since the inception of his international career back in February 2028, Afif has featured in 11 innings at number 4, where he made 303 runs at an average of 33.67 with a 115.21 strike rate, while at number five, he scored 331 at an average of 20.69 with an impressive strike of 130.31.

However, considering the star performers like Shakib and Towhid at those positions, Fahim advised Afif to start planning at number seven and bring in some fundamental changes in his batting approach.

‘It would be better if Afif could play at number seven, bringing in some changes in his batting approach. Perhaps that opportunity is still there for him. Since Towhid Hridoy, Shakib, and Mushfiq are playing at four, he has a thin chance to bat at the position,’ he said on Wednesday in Mirpur.

'Conversely, if he thinks that since I play better at four, I should be sent to play there, that would make his task difficult to bat at seven. On the other hand, if he thinks that, I don’t have a choice but to bat at seven and I have to settle there, that would be ideal for him.’