Bangladesh has announced their squad for the upcoming one-day internationals triangular series to be played at home including Srilanka and Zimbabwe.
Talking points immediately from the 16-man squad announced were the dropping of the left-handed opening batsmen Soumya Sarkar and right arm fast bowler Taskin Ahmed.
Though the squad has only been confirmed for the first two ODIs, the decision to drop the two came on the back of their recent form, “Taskin and Soumya both were dropped for their poor form,” Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector, told a press conference. “They will play in the BCL (a franchise-based first-class competition) to improve their skills,”
Sarkar has been a regular face in the Bangladesh squad for all three formats since making his international debut in 2014 but paid the price for a prolonged spell of poor form.
The left-hand batsman played just one ODI in the South Africa tour last October and scored only eight runs.
Taskin also fared poorly in South Africa, picking up two wickets in three ODIs.
Another aspect of the team is the return of the left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman who missed Bangladesh”s last one day series in Southafrica. Managing his workload and his body has been an issue for Bangladesh.
Mustafizur is joined by Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun, the batsmen, Abul Hasan, the paceman, and Sunzamul Islam, the spinner, in the squad which features several changes from the South Africa series in October.
The ODI squad also had no room for Liton Das, the wicketkeeper-batsman who played all three ODIs in South Africa but could score only 41 runs at 13.66.
Chandika Hathurusinghe resigned midway through the series in which Bangladesh failed to win even a single game, with his resignation being made official only in December.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board also sacked Mushfiqur Rahim, the Test captain, and Tamim Iqbal, his deputy, and replaced them with Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah respectively.
Bangladesh will face Zimbabwe in the opening match of the competition.
The tri-nation tournament will be followed by a home series against Sri Lanka featuring two Tests and two Twenty20 Internationals.
Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Mehedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Sunzamul Islam.
– by Kashish Chadha
