adminSYLHET. — The Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday added Soumya Sarkar to the squad for the third and final ODI against Zimbabwe today.
If, the match is as close to the fireworks produced in the last one, then it will be more than just a dead rubber.
It also presents rising Zimbabwean teenage star, Wesley Madhevere, who has provided the fireworks on his first senior tour of duty, with another chance to show he is, indeed, the next big thing in the game in his country.
Apart from the inclusion of the left-handed batsman, who was unavailable for the first two games due to his wedding, the squad remains unchanged from the first two matches.
BCB chief selector. Minhajul Abedin, said Mushfiqur Rahim will not feature in the third ODI, with Bangladesh likely to field an eleven that might play in the one-off ODI against Pakistan.
Rahim has decided against traveling to Pakistan for the final leg of the three phase tour, having also missed the previous two trips.
“Mushfiqur will not be playing as we want to see one of the youngsters in this game, before they are picked for the Pakistan ODI next month. We don’t want to hand them a debut there,” said Minhajul.
Bangladesh clinched the series against Zimbabwe in the second ODI with a nervy four-wicket win, having won the first game by 169 runs.
The final ODI will be played today in Sylhet, followed by two T20Is on March 9 and 11 in Dhaka.
Rahim has also returned to Bangladesh’s T20I squad, the BCB announced, after naming a 15-member squad for the two-match series against Zimbabwe.
Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed is the only uncapped player in the squad that also saw the return of Mohammad Saifuddin, who has recovered from a back injury that forced him on the sidelines for a substantial time.
Rahim had earlier opted out of travelling to Pakistan due to security reasons, thereby missing Bangladesh’s previous T20I assignment against them in a three-installment tour.
Meanwhile, the selectors have also dropped Nazmul Hossain after he sustained an injury during the last game against Zimbabwe that required stitches on his right hand, while Rubel Hossain was excluded due to lack of performances.
“We picked Nasum as he was one of the finds of the Bangladesh Premier League, and we need a left-arm spinner in the shorter format,” BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin told Cricbuzz.
“Mohammad Mithun had to pave way for Mushfiqur Rahim but that does not imply he is out of consideration in the shorter format,” he added.
The two T20I matches will be played on March 9 and 11 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur:
Squad: Mahmudullah (C), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed. — cricbuzz.
Online Reporter