Tagged as a Test opener, Javed Omar Belim was recalled to the one-day side to replace struggling Hannan Sarker in the 14-member squad.

Another opener Shahriar Hossain, who toured the West Indies, was not available for selection due to back injury.

The axe fell on Hannan for his miserable performance in the Caribbean but the inclusion of Javed surprised many because he has been out of one-day scene for quite some time. The 28-year old right-hander, who featured in 28 matches in the shorter-version and averages 22.68, played his last ODI in 2003 against Australia.

Bringing him back was a desperate step by the Bangladesh think-tank to settle a good opening pair.

"We don't want to make too many changes because the boys ran the West Indies very close in the ODI series. That's why we have made only one change from the squad that toured the Caribbean. We dropped Hannan because he is not only out-of-form but also seemed to lose his confidence," said chief selector Faruque Ahmed while announcing the squad at a press conference at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

It meant that Bangladesh have retained all three specialist left-arm spinners in the squad.

Coach Dav Whatmore, also a member on the selection committee, defended the inclusion of Javed saying that he has the ability to play the anchor role.

"We are in a position to find a good opening combination first and expecting to settle it, the sooner the better. Our other options are Mohammad Ashraful and Manjarul Islam," said the Australian.

Whatmore also agreed that Hannan's confidence level was low.

"Apart from scoring a 36 in St Vincent, he failed to deliver in recent times. We also considered his Test performance and that is not satisfactory," he added.

The Bangladesh coach thought that Javed-Ashraful would be a balanced opening pair. "Javed can keep his wicket intact while Ashraful is a good stroke-player. He has the talent to establish himself as an opening batsman and the ability to score big hundreds if he gets the time. So we want to give him as much batting time as possible."

The selectors showed their confidence in Alok Kapali despite his scores of five and one in two matches against the West Indies.

"I agree that his performance was below par but he has more to offer in Sri Lankan conditions. He might also use his leg-breaks," said the 50-year-old Sri Lankan-born Australian.

Faruque also believes Kapali has something to give to the team in the middle-order saying he is just going through a bad patch.

The former Bangladesh captain-turned-selector Faruque also defended the choice of having three spinners against teams like Pakis-tan, Sri Lanka and India who are naturally strong against slow bowling.

"We believe Sri Lankan wickets will help the spinners but the fact is we picked only one specialist left-arm spinner in Abdur Razzak. Manjarul and Mohammad Rafique are considered as all-rounders," explained Faruque.

Replying to a question regarding former captain and off-spinner Naimur Rahman, Faruque informed that they did not consider anyone's performance in the recently concluded Corporate Cricket League.

Bangladesh play Hong Kong in the Group A opener on July 16 and take on reigning champions Pakistan the next day. India, UAE and hosts Sri Lanka make the other group.

Meanwhile, the residential camp for the Asia Cup will begin tomorrow at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan.

SQUAD
Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Habibul Bashar (captain), Rajin Saleh (vice-captain), Alok Kapali, Faisal Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Manjarul Islam, Tapash Baisya, Tareq Aziz Khan and Abdur Razzak.