T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh pacer Mohammad Saifuddin ruled out, Rubel Hossain included in squad

Bangladesh have been forced into a personnel change in their squad, the ICC Event Technical Committee has confirmed. Bangladesh have officially replaced the injured Mohammad Saifuddin with Robel Hossain in their squad for the remainder of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

The Event Technical Committee, made up of Chris Tetley (Head of Events, Chair), Clive Hitchcock (ICC Senior Cricket Operations Manager), Rahul Dravid and Dhiraj Malhotra (BCCI Representatives), Simon Doull and Ian Bishop (Independent Members) approved the request on Tuesday.

The all-rounder picked up five wickets across Bangladesh’s opening four games of the tournament, but will play no further part in the Tigers’ campaign after picking up a back injury. Rubel was one of the approved reserve players who travelled to the UAE with Bangladesh’s initial squad.

The 31-year-old has played 159 matches for his country, including in 28 T20Is, two of which came 12 years ago at the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup. Bangladesh face England in their second Group One game of the Super 12 stage in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Who will replace Saifuddin in playing XI?

Mohammad Saifuddin’s injury is a blow to Bangladesh as he was one of the death bowlers for them. It remains to be seen who replaces him in the line-up for the crucial game against England. Taskin Ahmed was benched for the game against Sri Lanka after he fared decently in the first round. He may be in line for a come back. Other pacers in the squad are Shoriful Islam who impressed during the bilateral series at home a couple of months ago.

Rubel Hossain also may end up playing the game having travelled as the reserve player with the squad. This is an important game for Bangladesh with them losing the previous encounter. Group 1 comprises of all tough teams and another loss may put their semi-final qualification in jeopardy. England, on the other hand, are sitting pretty after beating West Indies pretty comfortably in the previous outing.

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