Ashraful, Junaed back for Zim tour
Mohammad Ashraful and Junaed Siddiqui find themselves back in the national fold after being named in the 15-member squad for the tour of Zimbabwe announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday.
The Tigers will leave for Harare on June 12 to play a tri-nation T20 tournament with Zimbabwe and South Africa being the other teams.
Chief selector Akram Khan said that they considered the performance of a few players in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) before picking the squad for the tournament. Opener Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam and Naeem Islam were the notable omissions from the squad while pacers Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain were left out due to shoulder injuries, making way for Nazmul Hossain and the uncapped Abul Hossain.
“We are looking forward to forming a good team before the ICC Twenty20 World Cup and the matches in Zimbabwe, Trinidad & Tobago and Ireland will give us a good opportunity to identify the right combination. We are not in favour of making changes to the team but we always want to recognise the performance of the players,” said Akram.
“Junaed has a very good reputation as a T20 player and most importantly he played well in BPL and in the latter part of the National Cricket League. Ashraful also looked good in the domestic competition as he always does, and he was especially fantastic in the BPL. True, Ashraful could not fulfil our expectations but we want to keep faith in him because he is a very good option for T20 cricket,” explained Akram.
The former national skipper also said that the arrival of young Anamul Haque forced them to keep Jahurul Islam in the stand-by list while they also believed that Imrul is not suited to the shortest form of the game.
“I would say that Omi (Jahurul Islam) is unlucky because as a back-up wicketkeeper batsman Bijoy (Anamul Haque) impressed us most. Bijoy has been in good touch and performed well in all levels of domestic cricket. He is a good prospect. On the other hand Imrul is no doubt a good opening batsman but he is more suited to the 50-over game,” said Akram.
Bangladesh will start their campaign in the tri-nation tournament by taking on Zimbabwe Select on June 15.
The BCB also confirmed the tour of Ireland and the Netherlands as the last leg of the three-stage T20 expedition. Besides a practice match, the Tigers will play three T20Is against Ireland in Ireland, and one T20I each against Scotland and the Netherlands in the Netherlands.
SQUAD
Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Mahmudullah Riyad (Vice Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Junaed Siddiqui, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Elias, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Forhad Reza, Nazmul Hossain, Ziaur Rahman, Abul Hasan
Stand by: Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Naeem Islam, Al Amin.
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