No surprises in Bangladesh squad

There were no surprises in Bangladesh’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad announced on Thursday as the Bangladesh Cricket Board selectors reposed their faith in the squad that defeated trans-Tasman sides Australia and New Zealand.

The 15 players and the two travelling reserves were part of the Tigers’ series wins over Australia and Bangladesh. The squad only has those players who were in BCB’s 2021’s central contract for Twenty20 Internationals.

Four players from the ongoing New Zealand series have been dropped- Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam, Aminul Islam Biplob and Rubel Hossain. But Biplob and Rubel will be with the side as travelling reserves.

BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that they were confident of this side as they have three consecutive series wins against Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand.

“We are confident of this team. Because we have won three consecutive series against Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand with this side. We are confident that we will maintain this consistency and do well in the World Cup,” he said.

Mahmudullah Riyad will be leading the side in a T20 World Cup for the first time after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza captained the side in the last event in 2016.

Also, for the first time, Bangladesh will be without Tamim Iqbal in a T20 World Cup after the Bangladesh ODI skipper opted out of the World Cup because he had not played T20Is for more than a year.

Earlier this month, Tamim announced that he will not be available for selection for the T20 World Cup as he has not played the format since March 2020, and his inclusion would not be fair to the younger players who played in place of him during this period.

After the World Cup squad was announced, Tamim congratulated everyone picked on his official Facebook page.

“Congratulations to everyone who made it to the world cup squad. My best of wishes for the entire team,” Tamim wrote.

BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin said after announcing the squad that they will be missing Tamim but also believed in the openers selected for the World Cup.

“Tamim is one of our best cricketers across all formats. We were confident about having him back, but it was bad luck that he opted out himself. We will miss him. But we believe he will come back well.

“The openers picked for the World Cup will have a big platform. They are capable of performing well, and we are confident that they will do well,” Minhajul said.

Bangladesh will travel to Oman on October 7 to adapt to the conditions as they have never played there. Minhajul also pointed it out in his press conference and said it was difficult to talk about preparation before going there.

“World Cup preparations will begin in Oman. We have never played there, so we don’t know the wickets there behave. So, it’s difficult to talk about preparation before we reach Oman. We are confident that our players will adapt to the conditions there quickly,” he said.

The Tigers will play their first match in the qualifying round against Scotland on October 17.

Bangladesh will face hosts Oman on October 19 and Papua New Guinea on October 21.

If the Tigers qualify for the Super 12 round, their first match there will be against Afghanistan on October 25.