Taijul in Bangladesh A squad for Africa tour
Young batsmen Shadman Islam and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat have been picked in the Bangladesh A squad for their forthcoming tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe, two of seven changes from the team that toured India last month
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-Oct-2015
Shadman Islam, a left-handed opening batsman, has been picked for his first A tour • IDI/Getty
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has been picked in the Bangladesh A squad for the forthcoming tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe, one of seven changes from the team that toured India last month. The Bangladesh selectors named a vastly different side for the Africa tour, which starts later this month, from the one that played in India, where the focus was to give match practice to many senior team players.
Apart from Taijul, batsmen Shadman Islam and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, allrounder Mahmudul Hasan, wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun, pace bowlers Mohammad Shahid and Abu Jayed have been included in the 16-man squad. Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain and Arafat Sunny, who were part of the India tour, are available to play first-class cricket at home while Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam are injured.
Taskin Ahmed remains sidelined by a side strain and his replacement in the India tour - Kamrul Islam Rabbi - has retained his place in the A team for this tour.
Among the ten international players in the squad, Taijul will be keen to regain form after recovering from a bout of jaundice he suffered in August. Soumya Sarkar and Rony Talukdar have been retained despite their poor form in India, while Sabbir Rahman and Shuvagata Hom, who did well on the tour, are also with the side.
The tour will also be a chance to test Shadman, a 20-year-old left-handed opener on his first A tour, and Mosaddek Hossain, a 19-year-old middle-order batsman who made his third double-hundred in first-class cricket in 2015.
Bangladesh A are likely to depart for South Africa on October 14 to play two one-day matches and a three-day game, although their opponents for the games have not yet been confirmed. It is learnt that one more match could be added to this leg of the tour. The team will then play two four-day games and three one-dayers against Zimbabwe A from October 30.
Bangladesh A squad: Shadman Islam, Rony Talukdar, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahmudul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Mohammad Mithun, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mohammed Shahid, Al Amin Hossain, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Saqlain Sajib, Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam