Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was given rest for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, slated to begin later this month as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 14-member squad at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Liton Das was also granted leave while pacer Abu Jayed Rahi could not find his place for the Sri Lanka ODI tour.
Taijul Islam and Anamul Haque Bijoy filled the two void spots, on the back of their superb form.
The three-match ODI series marked the return of Taijul Islam in the 50-over format after almost two years. He played his last ODI against Afghanistan in September 2016.
Bijoy played his last ODI against West Indies in 2018 in which he went through a series of low scores. Shakib who was in tremendous form in the recent World Cup, scoring 606 runs with 11 wickets, earlier requested BCB not to consider him for the series, slating to be held from July 26 – 31 in Colombo.
BCB granted his plea as he is supposed to perform the ‘Holy Hajj’. Liton is expected to get married on July 28, a reason for which he wasn’t considered, while Jayed is recently included in the BCB A setup after completing his World Cup journey without getting any opportunity to play.
There was however injury concern over captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, senior players Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim but they are dimmed fit to play and included into the squad.
Taijul, considered as Test material, who played just four ODIs since his debut in 2014 is set to join the team in Sri Lanka straight from India, where he is playing for the BCB XI at the Dr (Capt) K Thimmappaiah Memorial Cricket Tournament.
He claimed 8-89 in drawn four-day match against Vidarbha Cricket Association.
Bijoy with 37 ODIs under his belt also scored 121 in the first innings of that match.
Bangladesh team : Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Taijul Islam.
