Shakib Al Hasan to lead Bangladesh in Tri-series opener

Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is set to lead the Bangladesh team in the first ODI of their tour to Ireland. Ireland is scheduled to host the short tri-series commencing on May 12 that involves New Zealand as well. Bangladesh will play the hosts on May 12 at The Village, Dublin. Incidentally, despite Mashrafe Mortaza being in the squad, Shakib will be leading the Bangladeshi.

The reason behind Shakib Al Hasan taking charge of the team is that regular skipper Mashrafe will be serving his one-match ban. Mortaza was handed a match ban after his side failed to adhere to the over rate during their last international assignment in Sri Lanka. It was in the third and final ODI of the 3-match series in Sri Lanka, when the Bangladesh team had failed to finish their quota of overs in time.

After the game, Mortaza had revealed that they were short on time due to the hot and humid climate at the venue. Well, Mortaza will be back to the fore leading the team from the second match of the team when they face New Zealand on May 17. Shakib Al Hasan has had the experience of leading the national side before and hence will not be new to the job.

Shakib recently joined the squad after being a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th season of the IPL. Talking about the recent form of the sides, Bangladesh have been on a good run in the recent past. They drew level with Sri Lanka in their previous series. Ireland, on the other hand, have been whitewashed 2-0 in England.

Bangladesh squad for Tri-series in Ireland:

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (skipper), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Imrul Kayes, Sanjamul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Nasir Hossain, Subashis Roy, Rubel Hossain and Nurul Hasan Sohan