The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 15-member squad led by Najmul Shanto for the three ODI series starting on November 06.
The announcement comes after Najmul Shanto’s discussion with BCB president Faruque Ahmed on Thursday as the veteran decided to resign from the role ahead of the second test against South Africa at home.
While the board named the ODI squad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz was named as the vice-captain for the Afghanistan series.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan who has retired from Tests and T20Is, has voluntarily pulled out of the ODI series.
“When he (Shakib) could not play the last Test (against South Africa), he was disappointed from his side. What I feel is that when he could not play he was disappointed and did not practice.”
“He is a very professional player and felt that because he is not into training it will not be wise for him as well as for the country to play this series (against Afghanistan),” Faruque told reporters at Chattogram.
“He will try to return to his former self (as a cricketer) and there is a T10 league which is not colliding with any tournament. Though we are yet to give him NOC and we provide that, he will play there (in UAE T10) and after playing that he will see whether he can make a comeback as a cricketer or not( for international cricket),” he said.
“The decision came from Shakib and I am talking about the slim possibility (of playing against Afghanistan) due to his mental state came from him.
“The things through which players have to go through unless you are a player is difficult to understand. This mental thing (of playing cricket) will be obstructed mentally and it is very normal no matter how tough he is mentally.
“I still believe he can play for Bangladesh in ODIs and we have an important tournament ahead as we have three ODIs in West Indies and later Champions Trophy and so taking everything into consideration I feel that he will miss this tour (to UAE for the three-match ODIs against Afghanistan),” he added.
The uncapped player Nahid Rana has been called up for the ODI squad, which also sees the return of opener Zakir Hasan and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed.
Zakir Hasan has played only one ODI, while Nasum’s last game came from the ODI World Cup in India last year.
Anamul Haque, Taijul Islam and Hasan Mahmud have been omitted from the squad with Mahmud missing out due to a shoulder injury.
The ODI series will kickstart on November 06 while the second and third games will be played on November 09 and 11. All the matches will be hosted at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh squad for Afghanistan ODIs: Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Shanto (c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana.
