Bangladesh name strong squad for opener against New Zealand

The Bangladesh cricket team management has named a rather strong side for the upcoming series against New Zealand. The first ODI of the encounter will be played on Boxing Day at Christchurch wherein the Bangladeshis would be looking to make a strong start to their tour of New Zealand. The 15-man squad selected for the same sees Bangladesh recall a few players in a bid to reinforce their side.

Of these players recalled, the one many would be expecting to see would certainly be Mustafizur Rahman. Left-arm pacer is also a part of the side and will be expected to get a lot of pace and swing off the pace Christchurch deck.

19-year old all-rounder Mehedi Hasan, who impressed quite a bit against England, is now a part of the ODI squad as he looks to make the similar impact in ODIs as he did in the Test matches. The core of the squad has been retained with Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib-al-Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, and Imrul Kayes all expected to play a massive part in the first encounter at Christchurch.

Speaking about the squad selection, chief selector Minhazul Abedin said to Cricinfo, “We have kept the backbone of a settled squad that has been very successful over the last two years, but at the same time, it is also important to get players in who we believe have plenty of potential to perform at the highest level. Tanveer has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and gives a different dimension to our attack as he is a genuine leg spinner. He has also impressed the coaching team during the camp in Australia.”

“Subashis hits the deck and can extract bounce and movement off the wicket. He can be quite a handful in the conditions in New Zealand. Mehedi hasn’t played ODIs yet but has all the makings of a very useful limited-overs allrounder. We have reason to believe that he has the ability to serve Bangladesh in all formats and is one for the future.” concluded Minhazul Abedin

As far as New Zealand is concerned, the only change they have made is the fact that Neil Broom will be making a comeback to arms following his impressive time in the domestic circuit.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Subashis Roy, Tamim Iqbal, Tanveer Haider, Taskin Ahmed