Bangladesh call up Mosaddek for first two Afghanistan ODIs

Bangladesh have picked uncapped Mosaddek Hossain for their first two ODIs against Afghanistan.

Sports Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 Sept 2016, 08:42 AM
Updated : 22 Sept 2016, 04:36 PM

The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced a 13-man squad on Thursday for the matches on Sep 25 and 28, with Mosaddek as the only newcomer and pacers Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam making comeback.

Pacer Taskin Ahmed, who gave his bowling action reassessment with Arafat Sunny earlier this month, will be added to the squad if the ICC clears him to bowl.

The 20-year-old batsman, who played just one Twenty20 International for Bangladesh, has been pushing for a spot in the national team with strong domestic performances.

Mosaddek, whose first two first-class centuries were double hundreds, scored 622 runs for Abahani at an average of 77.75 and a strike rate of 104.89 in the Dhaka Premier League last season.

He also grabbed 15 wickets in the tournament to underline his all-round capabilities. Before this, Mosaddek turned heads in the National Cricket League and BCL with his performance.

Rubel Hossain

The last time Rubel played with the national team was when the Tigers beat South Africa in the ODI series in July last year.

He then picked up an injury while playing for the A team in India. But before fully recovering, he returned to play in the Bangladesh Premier League and was ruled out for injury again.

The 26-year-old bowler was then blamed for not taking proper care of himself and the BCB cancelled his central contract. He then had to work hard to get back his contract and a spot in the squad.

Shafiul Islam

Shafiul, on the other hand, last played for Bangladesh in November 2014, in the series against Zimbabwe. Injuries and loss of form then put the seamer out of the scene.

His performance in the last Dhaka League left much to be desired as he bagged 11 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 37.27.

The selectors left out Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Alauddin Babu, Subashis Roy, Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Mosharraf Hossain from the 20-man pool announced before the Eid-ul-Azha.

Al-Amin played just three ODIs since 2015. He, however, bagged 25 wickets in the Dhaka League at an average of 23.

Chief selector Minhajul Abendin, however, said Shafiul had beaten Al-Amin to the spot through his fitness improvements.

Bangladesh squad:

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Shafiul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain and Taijul Islam.