Experienced duo Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah have named in the 15-member Bangladesh squad for the opening two ODIs of the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand.
Tamim, who last played against Afghanistan in July, had been sidelined since then due to a back injury while Mahmudullah wasn’t considered in the ODI fold since the home series against England in March.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board also decided to rest their regular captain Shakib Al Hasan for the series and in his absence, Liton Das will lead the team against the Kiwis.
Shakib is not the only player given rest keeping the World Cup in mind as Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam, who were part of the recent Asia Cup squad, were all rested as well. Najmul Hossain Shanto, still recovering from a hamstring injury, wasn’t picked with the team management unwilling to risk him ahead of the World Cup.
“The decision to rest players was taken in consideration of the World Cup in India which will be a long tournament where ensuring the mental and physical fitness of the cricketers will be very important. The series against New Zealand provides us an opportunity to take a look at some other players as well ahead of this major event,” chief selector Mihanjul Abedin said.
However, Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossain and Shamim Hossain, who were also all part of the squad that played in the Asia Cup, were dropped for the series against New Zealand while Soumya Sarkar and Nurul Hasan Sohan also returned to the side.
The selectors also named three uncapped players in the squad – Zakir Hasan, Syed Khaled Ahmed and Rishad Hossain.
“The squad is a blend of experience and youth and only Zakir, Khaled and Rishad have not featured in ODIs yet. Zakir was very close to playing against Ireland in March before he suffered an unfortunate injury. Khaled has done well in his list A career and Rishad offers a different dimension to our bowling attack,” Minhajul added.
Bangladesh will start their training on September 19 for the series whose games are scheduled on September 21, 23 and 26 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Bangladesh squad: Liton Das (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Syed Khaled Ahmed.
