A 15-member Bangladesh one-day squad for the Kenya and Zimbabwe tour is likely to be announced today with two newcomers Sakib Al Hasan and Forhad Reza emerging as strong candidates for a place.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak is likely to make way for one of them while another has the chance to be an additional player to the squad that played against Australia last April.
The 19-member preliminary squad on Sunday played a warm-up match against the National Academy team at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, which they won by 26 runs.
Batting first, the charges of Australian coach Dav Whatmore made 230-5 in the stipulated 45 overs with three batsmen Javed Omar (82), Habibul Bashar (53) and Shahriar Nafees (52) hitting a half-century.
In reply, the National Academy Squad finished on 204-9 with all-rounder Nadif Chowdury top scoring with 57 while Tamim Iqbal made 42.
Bangladesh will embark on their 23-day African safari on July 15.
Probable squad: Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Rafique, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafee bin Mortaza, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Sakib Al Hasan and Forhad Reza.
Source:
New Age