No surprise in WC squad

Selectors recalled experienced all-rounder Khaled Mahmud and pace prodigy Mashrafee-bin-Mortuza for the 15-man Bangladesh squad they announced yesterday for the World Cup.

Mahmud's hopes of playing in a back-to-back World Cup appeared over when the three-men selection committee headed by Aliul Islam ignored him for the recent home series against the West Indies.

But the 31-year Mahmud got staked his claim following a string of good showing in South Africa in October. South Africa will host the 14-nation cricket carnival in February-March this year.

A gutsy cricketer and the man-of the-match in Bangladesh's memorable upset win against Pakistan in the 1999 England World Cup, Mahmud has played 34 one-day matches.

While Mahmud become only the fourth cricketer to represent Bangladesh in two World Cups, persevering opener Javed Omar failed to get into the fold. The selectors instead choose Ehsanul Hoque ahead of him.

Right-arm paceman Mashrafee also passed a fitness test to bolster the Bangladesh pace battery. The 19-year-old Narail pace sensation was out of action for a long time due to chronic injury. Mashrafee played his last match against New Zealand last year.

Placed in Pool A, Bangladesh will launch their World Cup campaign against Canada at Kingsmead, Durban on February 11.

The national team will however fly to Namibia on January 14 for a two-week camp to prepare for the World Cup. Khaled Mashud's men will also play five limited-overs matches against Namibia, one of the three qualifiers from the ICC Associate Member quota.

Bangladesh Squad: Khaled Mashud (captain), Habibul Bashar, Al-Shahriar, Ehsanul Hoque, Sanwar Hossain, Khaled Mahmud, Monjurul Islam, Mohammed Rafique, Hannan Sarker, Mohammad Ashraful, Tushar Imran, Taposh Kumar Baishya, Alok Kapali, Mashrafee-Bin-Mortuza and Talha Jubair.