The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday announced a 32-member preliminary squad ahead of their forthcoming home series against Zimbabwe and A team’s tour to India.
Apart from suspended Sohag Gazi, all players, who toured West Indies, made it into the preliminary squad that will undergo a fitness test today. The preliminary squad included as many as seven pacers including uncapped Mohammad Shahid and Abul Hasan, who made a return from injury after one-and- half-a-year.
Abul, who scored an amazing century on his debut Test against West Indies in 2012, recovered from a back injury recently and played a match against Zimbabwe A team, though he had to leave the field after bowling just 2.5 overs.
‘We wanted to give chance to every players, who has the potential of playing in the Zimbabwe series,’ said chief selector Faruk Ahmed.
‘We need to form two different squads for the Zimbabwe Tests and ODIs. Also, you know one of our teams will visit Kolkata. So, we wanted to give the maximum chance to the players. ‘
It was learnt that the selectors had prepared a squad of 31 members, but later they had to add opener Soumya Sarker to the insistence of coach Chandika Hathurusinghe.
One notable absentee from the preliminary squad was opener Shahriar Nafees, but Faruk said the door was still open for all the players.
‘We will play a home series, which means we can call any player at anytime, if required,’ said Faruk.
The chief selector also dropped a hint that they can rotate the players during the entire Zimbabwe series.
‘There are some players who cannot handle the pressure of all three formats. So, we are planning to give some players a break in certain matches,’ he said.
-With New Age input
