BCB picks strong team for Asian Games

Bangladesh will be sending strong teams for both the men's and women's cricket events in next month's Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. The BCB has not named a captain yet, but the front runners to lead the men's squad are Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal, as Mushfiqur Rahim dropped out himself because of his impending wedding next month.

Seam-bowling allrounder Muktar Ali is the only uncapped player in the men's squad. He was part of the 25-man preliminary squad that trained ahead of the upcoming West Indies series.

The men's team will be looking to defend the gold medal they won in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, which remains Bangladesh's only first-place finish in the history of the game. From that team, five players have been retained - Shamsur Rahman, Mithun Ali, Nasir Hossain, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury and Sabbir Rahman, who played a match-winning innings in the final against Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka have also announced a strong squad, which contains just four uncapped players. The team will be led by Lahiru Thirimanne, and includes a number of seniors like Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal and Jeevan Mendis.

Nepal, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives and the hosts South Korea are the other eight teams participating in the event.

For Bangladesh women, the aim will be to better their silver-medal performance from the last Asian Games. They have made only one change from their last assignment, the women's World T20, with Shamima Sultana making way for Shahnaz Parvin.

Men's squad: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun Ali, Shamsur Rahman, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Arafat Sunny, Mashrafe Mortaza, Muktar Ali, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

Women's squad: Rumana Ahmed, Shaila Sharmin, Lata Mondol, Khadiza Tul Kubra, Fargana Haque, Salma Khatun, Panna Ghosh, Nuzhat Tasnia, Jahanara Alam, Ayesha Rahman, Fahima Khatun, Sanjida Islam, Sharmin Akter Supta, Shohaly Akther, Shahnaz Parvin