Bangladesh recall Mosaddek and Hossain for New Zealand tour

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Friday recalled pace bowler Al Amin Hossain and batsman Mosaddek Hossain in their 20-member squad for the upcoming one-day international (ODI) and Twenty20 international series against New Zealand.

Mosaddek played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in July 2019 and T20I against India in November in the same year. Hossain played the last of his 15 ODIS against Zimbabwe in March 2020.

Let-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who was in the squad for the T20 series against Zimbabwe but did not play any game, was also included in the team.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said the absence of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan prompted them to implement most of the changes.

“Since Shakib is not available, we brought Mosaddek as he is also an all-rounder and an experienced player,” he said.

“We picked Nasum for the same reason. He did well in domestic limited over matches. He came ahead of Taijul Islam, who we want now to focus more on Test cricket.”

Bangladesh granted Shakib leave to skip the series to be with his expectant wife in the US.

In January, Shakib returned to international cricket to face the visiting West Indies, ater serving out a one-year ban for his failure to report multiple corrupt approaches.

He became player of the series in his comeback one-day international series but could play only part of the Test series due to a thigh injury he picked up during the first Test in Chitagong.

Bangladesh will play three ODI matches against New Zealand and as many T20IS from March 20 to April 1.

The Bangladesh team will leave Dhaka on Feb.23. Minhajul said a large squad was announced since the players had to stay in mandatory quarantine in New Zealand before taking the field for the series.

Meanwhile, bangladesh have allowed all-round er Hasan to skip a Test and one-day international series against Sri Lanka to play in the big-bucks Indian Premier League (IPL), their Cricket board said on Friday.

“Shakib gave us a leter stating that he would like to skip the series against Sri Lanka to play in the IPL. We accepted his plea as we don’t want to force someone who is reluctant,” BCB operations chairman Akram told AFP.

Shakib was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for 32 million rupees ($441,304 dollars) in an auction held in Chennai on Thursday for the next IPL beginning in April.