Mashrafe out, Shakib captain
January 1, 2010
Paceman Shafiul Islam to get a place in the final team
Mashrafee bin Murtaza’s hopes of returning to international cricket ended on Thursday when he was excluded from the final 15-member squad for this month’s home tri-nation tournament involving India and Sri Lanka.
In order to give him more opportunity to gain his hundred percent match fitness, the selection panel headed by Rafiqul Alam did not want to take any risk that might leave his career in peril once again.
“As per medical fitness certificate, he is fit hundred percent but he is 80 percent fit for the match. We are not taking any risk,” said the chief selector Rafiqul Alam while announcing the team for the Tri-nation tournament at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Mashrafe had injured his knee during the first Test on the tour of West Indies in July. The injury ruled him out of the rest of the tour and the subsequent ODI series against Zimbabwe both home and away. However, he was selected in the 26-man preliminary squad – later reduced to 18 – for the Tri-series and was named captain for the tournament as well as the home Test series against India. Deputy skipper Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side in the Tri-nation tournament that also involved sub-continent powerhouses India and Sri Lanka.
“In our condition a pace bowler was bound to give more afford which would be harmful for Mashrafe just after returning from injury. Moreover it’s a lot pressure for a bowler to bowl against a team like India and Sri Lanka. Considering all those stuffs we decided to opt him out for the time being,” Rafiqul clarified.
Mashrafe’s absence made the cut for the rookie pacer Shafiul Islam Suhas, who bowled excellently during the recently concluded Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. The 21-year old pacer from Biman was the highest wicket-taker of the league with 30 scalps though placed second position in terms of bowling average.
“He is the bowler, who proved his stature during his stint with Academy side and domestic league. He is the kind of bowler who can swing the ball in both way and got a rare quality of delivering yorker at the depth over of the innings. We think he is matured enough to cope with the international pressure,” Rafiqul highly praised the youngster. Apart from Suhas’s inclusion, ICL-returnee Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed’s entry was significant news, who last represented the national team more than a year ago. But another ICL back player Alok Kapali failed to make it original squad for the sake of team combination.
Chief Selector Rafiqul Alam highlighted Aftab and Nafees’s domestic performance to consider them for the national team.
“Both of them performed nicely in the domestic league and they deserved a place. Besides as a medium pacer Aftab’s bowling can be handy for the side,” Rafiqul said.
“During the last 15 months we’ve outstanding journey in the international cricket. Despite that it’s true we’ve some problems in the top of the batting. That’s why we had to consider some top order batsmen who can fulfill the gap. We saw huge potentiality in Aftab and Nafees to cover up the top order weakness. Moreover both of them know the international circuit well,” the chief selector explained.
“On the other hand, Kapali is that sort of bowler who can bring up variation in the team. But unfortunately we had a little slot to make space for him. However he shouldn’t be worried. We’ve so many games as per FTP in the next six months and he definitely would get the chance if he keeps up his ongoing success,” Rafiqul replied to a query.
The selection panel chief informed they would consider the all 26 players who made room in the preliminary squad.
“We wanted to bring up them under a process and all of them got a potential to serve the national team. As we’ve so many games, gradually we’ll consider all of them if they can continue their good work,” he informed.
When Mashrafe was ruled out for the sake of match fitness, opener Tamim Iqbal retained his place despite not playing any game in the domestic league.
“He batted a lot in the practice camp and we saw he felt good to grip bat. He’ll be batting in the coming days a lot,” Rafiqul said.
Apart from Mashrafe and Alok Kapali, pacer Shahadat Hossain Rajib was the other player to be left out from the shortened 18-member squad.
Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain) Mushfiqur Rahim (vice-captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Tamim Iqbal, Roqibul Hassan, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Shafiul Islam.
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