The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officially announced the squad on Wednesday and the 21-year old Russel apart, only left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak Raj was not part of the group that had toured England in May-June.

There were two significant absentees in the 15-man team for the three-match ODI series in the form of opener Nafees Iqbal and paceman Tapash Baishya. Both players were however, retained for the Test scheme of things and will travel to Sri Lanka along with left-arm spinner Enamul Haque (Jr.) and country's fastest bowler Shahadat Hossain Rajib ahead of the two-Test series. But Baishya's fate would hang on his fitness as he still hasn't recovered fully from an ankle injury. The selectors will later decide who they would replace in the one-day side.

The ODIs will be held on August 31 and September 2 and 4 while the first Test begins on September 12 followed by the second on September 20.

Teenaged Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, who had hogged the headlines before the Test series in England, was not considered for either version of the game. Rahim had only joined the Tigers camp on Tuesday after being sidelined with a fractured left index finger while on tour with the A side. Also missing from the Tigers' England campaign were pace duo Talha Jubair and Anwar Hossain Munir.

Razzak Raj returned to the one-day squad against Zimbabwe at home in January after going through a remodelling process in his action which kept him out of international cricket for nearly six months. The 23-year-old is the third left-arm spin option in the team after Mohammad Rafique and Manzarul Islam Rana.

Russel's inclusion was believed to have been prompted by his impressive economy rate in all forms of the game. Currently on tour in England with the A side, he has taken three wickets in as many one-day games and seven from the three-dayers he had played in so far. But he has an uncanny knack of keeping things tight which could prove ideal for the limited overs matches.

It was learnt that there was a long discussion on the opening spot of Nafees Iqbal who had a miserable tour of England and also faded dramatically after starting the A team's mission with a hundred against the British Universities. Now the onus is on the A side's skipper Shahriar Nafees Ahmed who would open the innings with the experienced Javed Omar. Shahriar Nafees enhanced his credentials with a catchy 75 against Australia in the NatWest series and has been in reasonable form on the A tour.

Bangladesh cricket's biggest enigma Alok Kapali only had to show some signs of consistency for the A side and could have booked a ticket for Sri Lanka. Instead he has managed just one fifty on the tour till date and that did his dwindling prospects no favour.

TEAM (One-day)
Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud (vice-captain), Javed Omar, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Rafique, Manzarul Islam Rana, Abdur Razzak Raj, Khaled Mahmud, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Nazmul Hossain and Syed Russel.