Mustafizur Rahman returns to the Bangladesh ODI squad for the tri-series

Bangladesh has announced the full-strength 16-member squad for the upcoming tri-series at home which includes Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. The premier left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman has returned to the squad as the selectors have dropped few players that toured South Africa late last year. He was injured in the middle of the ODI series against the Proteas. However, they would like to get onto the winning ways in 2018 after a disappointing away tour where they lost all the matches across formats.

The tri-series will commence on January 15 as the opening game will be played between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. All the matches are scheduled to be hosted at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. All the three teams will lock horn with each other twice before the top two will clash for the ultimate glory. The final will be played on January 27 after which Sri Lanka will stay back for Test and T20I series.

Taskin and Sarkar dropped

Along with the inclusion of Mustafizur Rahman, the selectors also brought back Anamul Haque who enjoyed a fruitful first-class season last year. The likes of Mohammad Mithun, Abul Hasan and Sunzamul Islam are also back into the ODI set up given their decent performances in the domestic season. The squad has got a new look along with the presence of some experienced players for the crucial series.

In a major surprise though Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar have been dropped from the side as they fared poorly in South Africa and have failed to impress the selectors. The backup wicketkeeper Liton Das has not been included as well which means Mushfiqur Rahim will continue with his job behind the stumps. The likes of Mominul Haque and Shafiul Islam have missed out in a major overhaul of the limited-overs side.

Though the veterans of the game Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan among others have managed to hold on to their places with Mashrafe Mortaza tipped to lead the side.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haq, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifudidin, Sanjamul Islam