No room for Razzak, Al-Amin as BCB announces squad today
Uncapped Abahani opener Liton Kumar Das is set to get a surprise call up in Bangladesh’s World Cup squad as national selectors finalised their 15-member squad on Saturday.
Bangladesh Cricket Board will announce the squad today through a press conference where its president Nazmul Hasan will also remain present. The three-member selection panel, led by former national skipper Faruk Ahmed, has finalised the squad after it had a long discussion with coach Chandika Hathurasinghe.
Hathurasinghe arrived on Friday after completing his vacation in Australia.
The curiosity over World Cup squad remained high with many former cricketers, journalists giving their squads to the media, contributing to raise the hype.
But the selectors were waiting for Hathurasinghe to return before closing the argument.
They had several options for a back-up opener, who can also bat in one-down, a position which is still unsettled.
Batsmen Imrul Kayes and Shamsur Rahman were used in the number three position alongside Mominul Haque in recent matches but selectors finally opted for Liton after both of them failed to impress.
Liton shot to fame when he became the seventh highest scorer in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Australia in 2012 with 262 runs that included a century and two fifties in six matches.
However, it was not until the ongoing Dhaka Premier League the selectors paid any serious attention on him.
He scored 647 runs so far in the league at 43.13 including five fifties and a century and contributed heavily to Abahani’s progress with a mediocre team.
Liton had to fight for his place with batting all-rounder Soumya Sarkar, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in the fifth ODI in December.
His performance in the Under-19 World Cup in Down Under finally helped him to edge Soumya.
Experienced left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak could not manage to regain the faith of the selectors as he was not considered, despite being Bangladesh’s most successful bowler in World Cup with 20 wickets in 15 matches.
All-rounder Nasir Hossain returned to the side after being overlooked in the Zimbabwe series as he showed some form in recent DPL matches including a match-winning 82 against Mohammedan.
According to sources, the selectors refused to pay any heed to the request of Hathurusinghe, who asked them to include Jubair Hossain. They instead went with experienced domestic campaigner Arafat Sunny.
There was no room for Al-Amin Hossain, who is reportedly lacking confidence after his action was questioned by the ICC. Though he was cleared later, selectors thought that the issue is still playing back of his mind.
They rather opted for Rubel Hossain despite his controversial recent past over a love affair with film actress Naznin Akter Happy.
The deadline to announce the final World Cup squad ends on January 7.
Bangladesh will play in Pool B alongside co-hosts Australia and New Zealand as well as England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Scotland.
The will start their campaign on February 18 against Afghanistan at Canberra.
Bangladesh team are expected to leave home on January 26.
-With New Age input
