Bangladesh ODI squad for Sri Lanka tour announced

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the 16 man squad for the three-match ODI series to be played against Sri Lanka later this month. The selectors have opted to draft in left-arm uncapped spinner Sunzamul Islam. Sunzamul was impressive during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) this year. Also, he has been impressive in the domestic circuit. He finished with 25 wickets this season in domestic tournament.

His tally of 25 scalps includes a best of 9-wicket haul in an innings. Sunzamul is quite a useful batsman in the lower order as well. All-rounder Shuvagata Hom, who was impressive during the World T20 last year, has been recalled in the set up for the ODI fixtures. Shuvagata’s return can be credited to his aggregate of 265 runs and 25 wickets in the domestic tournament. Interestingly, his last ODI appearance in Bangladeshi colors was way back in 2011.

Prior to the announcement of the squad, the rumors about veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah being dropped were doing the rounds on the media. However, much against all speculations, the BCB President Nazmul Hassan made it clear that Mahmudullah will retain his place in the ODI setup. The players who faced the heat of the selectors were Mehedi Hasan and Tanbir Hayder.

The two spin-bowling all-rounders are the only players to have been axed from the ODI squad that featured during the New Zealand tour in late December last year. Bangladesh’s most recent ODI series was against the Kiwis and they were drubbed 0-3 in the fixtures then. They will be hoping for a turnaround in the fortunes in the upcoming ODI series. The series commences on March 25.

Bangladesh ODI Squad for Sri Lanka tour:

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan.