Former Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal failed to get a place in the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup as the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the much-awaited squad on Tuesday. 

The BCB used their social media platform for their squad announcement on Tuesday night where they included veteran campaigner Mahmudullah, who earlier returned to the national team after several months through the recently-concluded New Zealand series.

Talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead Bangladesh for the second time in the 50-over World Cup after he did the same back in 2011 World Cup on home soil.

Surprisingly Najmul Hossain Shanto was named as his deputy for the World Cup and among 15 Bangladeshi players, there are six batters, three all-rounders, five pacers and one proper spinner.

Alongside Shakib and Mahmudullah, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Liton Das, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim will look after the Bangladesh batting while Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are the all-rounder options with skipper Shakib.

Taskin Ahmed will lead Bangladesh’s pace-bowling attack which also has players like Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib while left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed has been picked as a spin option.

However, Tamim’s not getting a place in the World Cup squad remained the most-talked thing and the selectors claimed that the decision was taken after consulting with all members of the team management.

“We are all aware that Tamim Iqbal is a long-term injury concern,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“He returned for the New Zealand series. After the first match, there was a bit of a complain. We thought of his injury concern when not taking him in the squad. We have spoken to all concerned, before taking this decision.

“We discussed it with Tamim. We can’t tell you what we spoke about. We discussed it with the team management, and didn’t want to take a risk in a long World Cup campaign. It is a very important event,” he added.

In last few months, Tamim, who led Bangladesh throughout their successful campaign in the ICC World Cup Super League and was all set to be the captain of their ship during the World Cup in India, made a shocking retirement call from international cricket a day after their conceding defeat to Afghanistan in the first ODI in Chattogram in July.

However, on next day after his announcement, he had to reverse his decision after Prime Minister’s intervention. The story just went on and on as he stepped down from captaincy once he returned from England where he took injections for his recent back injury.

He finally returned to the side during the ODI series against New Zealand but couldn’t play the third match on Tuesday after making a complain of his old injury.

Meanwhile, this will be the fifth World Cup for Shakib and Mushfiqur, who had been regular faces since the 2007 World Cup while Mahmudullah will be playing his fourth 50-over World Cup.

Liton, Mustafizur, Mehidy, Taskin also have experience of playing at least one 50-over World Cup while the remaining eight players will be playing their first World Cup this year.

Bangladesh team, who lost the three-match ODI series against New Zealand by a 2-0 margin, will travel to Guwahati today.

Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka and England respectively on September 29 and October 2 in their two warm-up matches before they travel to Dharamshala for their tournament opener.

They will begin their upcoming ICC World Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Dharamsala, India on October 7.

The Tigers will take on reigning champions England in Dharamsala on October 10 before they travel to Chennai to play their third game against New Zealand on October 13.

Bangladesh will face the host team India in Pune on October 19 before they play South Africa in Mumbai on October 24.

Bangladesh will play their next two league matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively against Qualifier 1 and Pakistan on October 28 and 31.

After the Kolkata matches, Bangladesh will travel to Delhi to face Qualifier 2 on November 6 before they complete their league phase against Australia in Pune on November 11.

Three of Bangladesh’s matches respectively against Afghanistan, England and Australia will be day games and will start at 11:00am (BST). On the other hand, Bangladesh’s remaining six league matches will be all day-night affairs and those will start at 02:30pm (BST).

The tournament will get underway with a rematch of the two finalists of the last edition – England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5. The final will be held at the same venue on November 19.

Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Liton Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vice-capt), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib.