Rain-shortened matches forced the team management to ignore him for the three one-dayers in the Caribbean but two decent performances in two warm-up matches have opened the door for the left-arm spinner.

He replaces fellow left-armer Manzarul Islam.

Razzak, a consistent domestic performer, was overcome with emotion when he heard the news.

"My father would have been so happy had he been alive. I want to dedicate my first match to his memory," said the 22-year-old all-rounder from Khulna.

Out of form batsman Alok Kapali will be given another chance to prove his potential.

"We think we need three quicks on this wicket. So the attack will comprise Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud and Tapash Baisya," said coach Dav Whatmore yesterday.

"It was a very close decision between Faisal (Hossain) and Alok. I think Alok is ahead due to his experience and he had a very good knock in the second warm-up game. He played well under pressure while chasing."

"And Razzak is due for a call up," the 50-year-old Australian confirmed.

Apart from Faisal, who played a fine innings in the first practice match, Tareq Aziz will also miss the match.

"Every game is important for us. There will be a different type of pressure as Bangladesh are expected to win against Hong Kong. It's not something that we are used to, but we are more than happy to play Hong Kong in the first game.

"Weather is a concern, but no one can control it. If it's a rain-shortened match, we may change the openers. Rafique could be a possibility in that case."

If everything goes normally, Javed Omar and Mohammad Ashraful will open the Bangladesh innings.

When asked whether What-more's long experience as Sri Lanka coach would benefit the Tigers, he mentioned that it would be an advantage if the boys implemented his tips.

"But you have to consider that the Asian giants have been playing here longer than Bangladesh."

Happy with the performances in the practice matches, Whatmore believes that there is still room for improvement.

"It's always nice to win. The second one was a very good win for us."

Defending the decision to come to Sri Lanka 15 days ahead of the tournament, Whatmore said: "The decision was correct. We got some valuable opportunity to practice on turf and in local conditions. Only one day was washed out, it happened to be a practice match. That was unfortunate, it rained and rained all day, but everything else that we planned was achieved. So it was useful."

Captain Habibul Bashar also echoed the sentiment.

"We missed outdoor training in Dhaka but we got the opportunity to do that here. We did not find the turf here really prepared, but playing those two matches really helped," Bashar told.

"The ball will swing on this SSC wicket in the morning. It would be bowling first in normal condition.

"We recovered from difficult conditions in both practice matches. Ashraful played a brilliant innings in the first with adequate support from Faisal.

TIGERS SQUAD
Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Habibul Bashar, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Khaled Mahmud, Abdur Razzak and Tapash Baisya.