Tamim headed for paternity leave
Tamim Iqbal is unlikely to be available for the entire Asia Cup as the left-hander was granted paternal leave by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to be with his wife Ayesha Siddiqa. According to sources, the opener requested the board to grant him leave from February 24, the day the Asia Cup will kick off with a match between India and Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, as the couple is expecting their first child later this month.
Tamim's probable absence will result in one change to the team for the regional tournament, which will be held in T20 format for the first time. BCB has yet to declare the team for the Asia Cup but another left-handed opener, Imrul Kayes, is most likely to make the cut for the final squad.
When Faruque Ahmed announced the 15-member squad for the ICC World Twenty20 a few days back excluding Imrul, the decision left many surprised. Faruque explained that team management's interest in wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun saw the Imrul end up among the four standby cricketers.
Imrul has made valuable contributions whenever he got chances as a back-up opener since the last 50-over World Cup in early 2015. In Test cricket he has averaged 54 in 2015 with a high score of 150 and the two ODIs he played since the World Cup saw him score 76 and 73 against Zimbabwe. He was by far the most exciting Bangladeshi batsman in the Bangladesh Premier League, where with 300 runs he was the second highest run-scorer.
Besides the four major nations -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka -- Afghanistan, Oman, Hong Kong and UAE will be playing a qualifying tournament that starts on February 19. Each team will play three matches and the one finishing on top will advance to the main event.
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