Bangladesh drop Sarkar, Taskin from ODI squad

Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka the other teams to feature in triangular series in Dhaka

Bangladesh yesterday dropped opening batsman Soumya Sarkar and paceman Taskin Ahmad from their 16-man squad for the opening two matches of the forthcoming tri-nation One Day International tournament.

Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will also take part in the tournament, Bangladesh’s first ODI competition at home in more than a year. It will begin in Dhaka on January 15.

“Taskin and Soumya both were dropped for their poor form. They will play in the BCL [a franchise-based first-class competition] to improve their skills,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin told a press conference.

Sarkar has been a regular face in the Bangladesh squad for all three formats but paid the price for a prolonged spell of poor form. The left-hander played just one ODI in the South Africa tour last October and scored only eight runs.

Taskin also fared poorly in South Africa, picking up two Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hassan, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Mehedi Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman, Abul Hassan, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Sunzamul Islam. wickets in three ODIs. Leftarm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman returns to the side after missing out on Bangladesh’s last one-day series in South Africa with a twisted ankle.

Mustafizur was joined by batsmen Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun, paceman Abul Hassan and spinner Sunzamul Islam in the squad, which features several changes from the winless South Africa series in October.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board sacked Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim and his deputy Tamim Iqbal and replaced them with Shakib Al Hassan and Mahmudullah respectively. The ODI squad also had no room for batsman Liton Das, who played all three ODIs in South Africa but could score only 41 at 13.66.