The selection panel of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recalled batters Afif Hossain and Naim Sheikh in the 15-member squad for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan.
Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed also made an expected return to the side after recovering from the injury he sustained during the home ODI series against Ireland.
He subsequently missed the one-off Test and three-match away ODI series against Ireland before making a comeback in the only Test against Afghanistan last week.
Naim who played last of his two ODIs two years ago forced his way back to the side after scoring 932 runs in 16 games at an average of 71.69 in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), country’s traditional list A tournament.
After losing his spot following an ODI series against England this year, Afif scored 550 runs in 15 DPL games, averaging 55.
Rony Talukdar, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and Yasir Ali made the way for the trio. “This is the last series before the Asia Cup and we want to see some players and that is the reason we have picked Naim and Afif Hossain,” BCB Chief Selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu said on Saturday.
“Both( Afif and Naim) played well in domestic circuit to earn a recall,” he added.
“Since Taskin returned to the fold, Mrittunjoy had to dropped,” Abdein said, adding that he is in their future plan. “Mrittunjoy was originally the replacement of Taskin in Chelmsford. Since he returned to the fold, Mrittunjoy naturally had to be dropped. We are considering Rony in the T20 format while Yasir is not consideration for the time being,” he explained.
The Three ODIs are scheduled to held on July 5, 8 and 11 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Bangladesh squad:
Tamim Iqbal (capt), Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Afif Hossain and Naim Sheikh.
