Mashrafe, Hathurusingha asked for five pacers in World T20 squad

Bangladesh Cricket Board chief selector Faruque Ahmed says captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and coach Chandika Hathurusingha wanted five pacers in the World Twenty20 squad.

The board named the final 15-man squad for T20's showcase event that starts in India next month.

The Tigers boasted four pacers in the bouncy tracks of Australia and New Zealand in last year's World Cup. This time, the selectors opted for one more despite the fact that India has traditionally produced spin bowling wickets.

Mashrafe has Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Haider Rony, and Taskin Ahmed at his disposal.

Faruque announced the squad at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. He said the decision was mainly taken because of the captain and the coach.

"The captain always plays a role. We are told what they are thinking about a match. I think the coach has some plans with these seamers, so we went for five pacers.”

Bangladesh will play the first round of the tournament at Dharmasala in the Himachal Pradesh. The tracks there assist fast bowlers.

Faruque said this played a big role in finalising the squad.

"The wicket was on our mind too. We may play in seaming conditions at first. So we will need seamers…we have to qualify (for the Super 10)."

Where teams like New Zealand and West Indies have drafted three specialist spinners, Bangladesh have just one – Arafat Sunny.

But Bangladesh will be equipped with the spin options of allrounders Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, and Sabbir Rahman.

"It can't be said we have fewer spin bowlers. We have two left-arm spinners in Shakib and Sunny. Nasir can't be called an irregular bowler. He has been filling the bowling quota for the last few months.

"Apart from that, Mahmudullah Riyad is there while (Sabbir Rahman) Rumman, too, has been bowling in international games nowadays."

Bangladesh have been pitted against the Netherlands, Ireland, and Oman in Group A in the first round of the tournament. They will begin their campaign against Netherlands on Mar 9.