The Fizz returns for Tigers
Bangladesh have named a 15-man squad for the ODI series against the Black Caps in New Zealand including fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
Mustafizur is one of five changes to the group from the squad that hosted England earlier this year.
Quick Rubel Hossain has earned a recall, while Mehedi Hasan, Tanbir Hayder and Subashis Roy are all in line to make their ODI debuts in the land of the long white cloud.
Nasir Hossain, Shafiul Islam, who suffered a hamstring injury, Al-Amin Hossain and Taijul Islam are the men who miss out.
Mustafizur’s promising international career suffered a setback when he aggravated a shoulder injury while playing county cricket and was forced to go under the knife but the paceman has made a quicker than expected recovery and is raring to go.
Rubel has satisfied the selectors fitness requirements having been dropped earlier this year due to substandard fitness which was noted during the series against Afghanistan.
Mohammad Shahid’s injury in the Bangladesh Premier League is believed to have handed Rubel this international lifeline.
Chief selector Minhazul Abedin is eager to maintain continuity as Bangladesh seek to consolidate the gains they have made in international cricket over the last 18 months or so.
ESPN Cricinfo reports Abedin as saying: “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.
“Tanbir has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and gives a different dimension to our attack as he is a genuine legspinner. 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.”
The entire preliminary squad will travel to New Zealand and act as reserve players should any of the squad get injured or changes be required.
Bangladesh squad for first ODI: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Subashis Roy, Tanbir Hayder.
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