Star Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal made his return to the national ODI side to lead in the first two ODI matches against England next month, announced Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
The batter missed out on the ODI series against India in December last year due to a groin injury. Batter Litton Das had led the side to a huge 2-1 series win.
There were three inclusions in the side, with Towhid Hridoy earning his maiden call-up after scoring over 400 runs in the Bangladesh Premier League. Taijul Islam has made a return to the side as a like-for-like replacement for the left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who is among the five players dropped.
The other four players to be dropped from the side include Yasir Ali, Anamul Haque, Nurul Hasan and Shoriful Islam.
Anamul returned to the ODI side against Zimbabwe in mid-2022 after four years. But he could not make the best of this opportunity, aggregating only 33 runs in three innings. Yasir played just one game to make 25 runs. Nurul did not get to play a single match in the ODI series against India.
Tamim had played most of his BPL matches for Khulna Tigers, but missed the last few games to ensure full fitness for the ODI series against England. Taijul had also featured in only three ODIs last year, including a match where he took a fifer against West Indies.
“Towhid Hridoy has been doing well in the BPL,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“He was in our pool of potential players, and was part of the HP [High Performance] and Bangladesh A sides. Yasir remains in our thinking, as we plan to take another player in the squad. Nasum is being considered for another format, while we dropped Nurul and Shoriful due to form.”
The three-match ODI series will start on March 1 in Dhaka and will be part of the ODI Super League. Those will be followed by three T20Is from March 9 to 14.
Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Litton Kumer Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahmud Ullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Taijul Islam, Towhid Hridoy.
England Men’s Tour of Bangladesh schedule
1st ODI: Bangladesh v England – March 1, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
2nd ODI: Bangladesh v England – March 3, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
3rd ODI: Bangladesh v England – March 6, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram
1st T20I: Bangladesh v England – March 9, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram
2nd T20I: Bangladesh v England – March 12, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
3nd T20I: Bangladesh v England – March 14, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. (ANI)
