DHAKA (Bangladesh): Bangladesh called up uncapped all-rounder Mahedi Hasan and pace bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam in their 18-man squad for the three-match One-day International series against West Indies.
The series, which begins in Dhaka on January 20, marks the return of international cricket to Bangladesh after a Covid-19 disruption.
“We took several extra players because we are facing a pandemic now. You cannot add a player to the squad anytime in this kind of situation,” said chief selector Minhajul Abedin. “Our three uncapped players Mahedi, Hasan and Shoriful have all did well in domestic cricket recently. We included them because we thought it’s also a time for us to look for the future.”
The series is also Bangladesh’s first since pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza stepped down as captain in March.
Mashrafe was left out of the preliminary squad for the series in Bangladesh’s first indication of a new beginning under opener Tamim Iqbal, who was named captain in March but has yet to assume his role.
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also returned to the Bangladesh squad after serving out his one-year ban for failure to report multiple corrupt approaches.
The second and third ODIs of the series will be on January 22 and 25, respectively in Dhaka and Chittagong.
ODI squad: Tamim Iqbal (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Mahmud Ullah, Riyad Afif Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hassan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam.
