Marshall, Sunny get late call-ups

* Enamul Haque Jr and Naeem Islam out of SL tour due to injury
* Injuries sustained during the BPL
* First national call-up for Marshall Ayub

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In an unexpected turn of events, batsman Marshall Ayub and left-arm spinner Elias Sunny were included in the Sri Lanka-bound Test squad as Naeem Islam and Enamul Haque Jr were ruled out of the two-match Test series due to injury. A day after the announcement of the 15-member squad the national selectors had to sit again yesterday to decide upon the replacements of the two injured players.
The injuries were detected during yesterday's practice session but it was during the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where these players actually sustained the injuries. Chief selector Akram Khan told reporters at Mirpur yesterday that the players carried the injuries from the BPL. He was also concerned about the possibility of more injuries .
“Enamul (Haque) complained this morning of left hamstring pain. After assessment it was found that he has a grade 1+ hamstring tear. This will see him receiving physiotherapy and rehabilitation for about seven to 10 days. Naeem has a grade 2 quadriceps tear on his right leg. He experienced pain and weakness upon testing. He will need to have physiotherapy and rehabilitation for at least two to three weeks,” national team physio Vibhav Singh informed.
The news came as a shock for Akram. “It's really unfortunate. They actually played the BPL matches with these injuries and did not take due care. We have to be sincere. It is difficult for the physicians if the player himself is not conscientious or hides his injury,” said disappointed Akram.
The former national skipper also said that they picked the best available players as replacements.
“You know we had a bit of a tussle between Mominul and Marshall Ayub since both have performed very well in recent times and finally picked up Mominul because we thought he would be a better choice to counter the left-arm spin. But now we lost one right-handed batsman in Naeem, so Marshall was an obvious choice. Marshall had a tremendous run in the domestic circuit so he deserved the call. On the other hand, we considered Sunny's recent experience with the national team ahead of Mosharraf Hossain,” explained Akram.
Marshall Ayub got the news from chief selector Akram Khan during the presentation ceremony of the BCL at Mirpur and he was excited by the call-up.
“I am obviously feeling very good. I finally made it to the national team. When I initially didn't get through, honestly speaking I did not feel too bad. Our team required a lefty and it was probably done for the good of the team. I am in good form and they told me that I was in line. But suddenly getting this news feels really good,” said Marshall.
“Every player dreams of playing in the national team no matter where he plays. But now that I am here, there's nothing to celebrate as yet. I have to work hard. We are playing against a really good team. If I play well then I will celebrate. I was there with the high performance team in Dambulla and Colombo, so I have an idea about the wicket over there. I remember scoring a 74 in 2008-9 there,” he added.