ICC World Cup 2019: Mortaza to lead Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan returns to squad

Dhaka: Bangladesh Cricket on Tuesday announced its 15-man World Cup squad, which features experienced core and plenty of young players.

Shakib Al Hasan, who pulled out from New Zealand tour due to injury issues, is back in the squad as deputy to Mashrafe Mortaza. Bangladesh’s wealth of experience looks complete with Shakib, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mortaza and Mahmudullah.

Moreover, the selectors have also included batting all-rounder Mosaddek Hossain and uncapped Abu Jayed, at the expense of Taskin Ahmed. Jayed has played in Test cricket but is yet to wear an ODI cap. His inclusion meant dropping of Taskin, who was ruled out of New Zealand series due to an ankle injury.

The young players, who are aged 25 or below, include Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Jayed.

Following is the 15-man squad: Masrafe Bin Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Mohammad Mithun, Shabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed.

World Cup is scheduled to be hosted in England from May 30 to July 14. Bangladesh will play against Pakistan and India in the warm-ups before opening its World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 2 at The Oval.