Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan rested for ODI series, Anamul Haque and Taijul Islam in

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has recently announced their 14-man squad for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. The matches are scheduled to be played on July 26, 28 and 31 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Tigers put up a good show in the 2019 World Cup, though they got knocked out before the semis, and would be looking to put their best foot forward.

A practice match on July 23 is also set to take place. Premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was Bangladesh’s standout performer in the World Cup with 606 runs and 11 wickets, was rested. Liton Das, who got a 90 In one of the league games versus the Windies, was given a break as well. Both Liton and Shakib asked for leaves after a gruelling campaign in the tournament in England and Wales.

Mashrafe to be at the helm for Bangladesh

Anamul Haque Bijoy, the wicketkeeper-batsman and Taijul Islam, the left-arm spinner, made their comeback in the squad. Taijul has plied Test cricket on a regular basis but never has been able to cement his place in the ODI team, having last played the format back in September 2016. Even the 26-year-old Bijoy will be playing his first One Dayer for the Tigers after a gap of almost a year.

“Shakib and Liton are not going to Sri Lanka. So we included Bijoy and Taijul in their position. Since Bijoy played well in domestic cricket, we included him while we needed a left-arm spinner in place of Shakib and Taijul was the choice. Rahi has been excluded from the World Cup squad,” Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector was quoted as saying to the reporters on Tuesday.

Prior to the series, there were doubts surrounding the participation of ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad as well. But all of them made the cut. Abu Jayed Rahi, who didn’t play a single match in the World Cup, was left out. There’s no sign of pacer Taskin Ahmed, who’s been battling with misfortunes over the last seven six months.

Here is Bangladesh’s 14-man squad

Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mushfiqur Rahim, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman