With several first-choice players unavailable after defecting to the Indian Cricket League, Bangladesh included three rookies in its squad Monday for the first of three one-day internationals against New Zealand.
Uncapped batsmen Imrul Kayes and Nayeem Islam and medium-pacer Mahbubul Alam were selected in Bangaldesh’s 14-player squad, which also featured recalled wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
Bangladesh will enter the series having lost players to the ICL, a non ICC-sanctioned Twenty20 competition. The Bangladeshi board doesn’t recognize the ICL, so the players were ineligible for selection.
“We had no other choice but to select some uncapped players,” chief selector Rafiqul Alam said. “But we trust the new players have the ability to do well.” New Zealand, led by Daniel Vettori, arrived Sept. 30 in Dhaka to play three one-day internationals and two tests.
The first two one-dayers will be played at Dhaka on Oct. 9 and two days later, while the southeast city of Chittagong will host the third on Oct. 14.
The first test will begin Oct. 17 at Chittagong, and the second from Oct. 25 at Dhaka.
New Zealand has won all six tests and 11 one-day internationals against Bangladesh, but Vettori previously said he is aware of the challenge posed by the humidity and slow pitches in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh squad: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Tamim Iqbal, Zunaid Siddiqui, Imrul Kayes, Shakib al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain, Nayeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad, Abdur Razzak, Syed Russel, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam.