Mustafizur has not played international cricket since March
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mutafizur Rahman is set to make his international comeback after he was included in the national team for the first ODI against New Zealand on Boxing Day.
Mustafizur has not played international cricket since the World Twenty20 in March this year and shortly after appearing at the tournament, he suffered a shoulder injury while playing county cricket in England. As a result, he had to undergo surgery and has now made a full recovery.
Mustafizur is not the only player to return to the ODI squad as fellow seamer Rubel Hossain also found a place in the side. Rubel had been dropped for the ODI series against Afghanistan in September due to fitness, but he has regained his spot in the team at the expense of Mohammad Shahid, who is nursing a right knee injury.
The uncapped trio of Mehedi Hasan, Tanveer Haider and Subashis Roy are also called up, but there was no place in the side for Shafiul Islam, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, Nasir Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain and Taijul Islam.
“We have kept the backbone of a settled squad that has been very successful over the last two years,” chief selector Minhazul Abedin said. “But at the same time, it is also important to get players in who we believe have plenty of potential to perform at the highest level. Tanveer has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and gives a different dimension to our attack as he is a genuine leg-spinner. He has also impressed the coaching team during the camp in Australia.
“Subashis hits the deck and can extract bounce and movement off the wicket. He can be quite a handful in the conditions in New Zealand. Mehedi hasn’t played ODIs yet but has all the makings of a very useful limited-overs all-rounder. We have reason to believe that he has the ability to serve Bangladesh in all formats and is one for the future.”
Bangladesh Squad for first ODI: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Subashis Roy, Tanveer Haider.