Skipper Tamim Iqbal returned to the ODI fold as the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Thursday announced a 14-member squad for their first two 50-over matches of the three-match series against England, scheduled to start on March 1.
Tamim earlier missed the ODI series as well the Test series against India due to his groin injury in November-December last year.
The left-handed batsman featured in the Bangladesh Premier League 2023 for Khulna Tigers but was rested in the last two games as he was feeling uncomfortable with his groin again.
Uncapped batsman Towhid Hridoy was included in the squad on the back of his brilliant performance in the BPL while it also marked the return of left-arm spinner Taijul Islam.
Yasir Ali, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Nasum Ahmed, who were part of the last ODI squad against India, failed to make a cut in the first two ODIs against England/
“He (Hridoy) played well in the BPL and he is someone who is in our pool as he did well with HP and A team. So we want to see how he does at the international level,” said Chief Selector Minhajul Abedin.
Minhajul added that they excluded Nurul and Anamul due to their current form.
“They( Nurul and Anamul) were excluded due to their form while we are thinking of Nasum in another format and expect him to do well there,” he said, adding that Yasir A can still make a comeback in the squad but he needed to perform well in the practice game.
“We still can include one cricketer in our squad and we will consider that on the performance of the practice game and we are trying to see whether Yasir can make it through by performing there or not,” he concluded.
Bangladesh will play an intra-squad practice game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on February 22 ahead of the ODI series, which is part of the ICC World Cup Super League.
England will arrive on February 24 to play three ODIs and as many T20Is.
The first two matches will be played in Mirpur respectively on March 1 and 3 while the third one will be played in Chattogram’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on March 6.
Following the ODI series, the tourists will play three T20Is in Chattogram and Dhaka respectively. The first T20I will be played on March 9 while the next two T20Is are scheduled in Mirpur on March 12 and 14 respectively.
Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Liton Kumer Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain, Taijul Islam and Towhid Hridoy.