Players of Bangladesh preliminary squad for the upcoming one-day international home series against Sri Lanka that are currently available in Dhaka started training at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
Seven cricketers from the squad- Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Afif Hossain, Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar, Hasan Mahmud and Mosaddek Hossain attended training at the BCB Academy nets. The cricketers that are currently in Sri Lanka for the Test series will join following a short break once they return home.
The training sessions at Mirpur are now conducted under supervision of coach Mizanur Rahman Babul.
Left-handed batsman Imrul made a return to a training session under the national fold after a while. The experienced campaigner last featured for Bangladesh in ODIs in 2018 against West Indies in Dhaka. His lack of form and later for the sake of team Imrul was omitted from the national setup. However, Imrul, who has made several comebacks in his career, has once again got a call up after three years.
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“I would like to thank the selectors for giving me yet another chance and include me in the preliminary squad. This is truly inspiring for me. Staying away from the national setup hampers the mentality so this opportunity will surely encourage rethink and set my aim,” said Imrul to the media on Sunday.
“I can now have a set plan to prepare myself and work on areas that I lacked in. I think this is a big opportunity for me for being able to represent the national team once again,” he added.
On the other hand, right-arm all-rounder Mahmudullah has recovered from strained left thigh the injury he picked during the tour of New Zealand in March-April this year. Mahmudullah had picked the injury during the second T20I against hosts New Zealand at Napier and had missed the third and the final game of the three-match series.
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The camp with partial members of the squad will run till Wednesday. Followed by a day’s break the camp will take place on May 7, 8 and 9 before going into a week-long break for Eid-ul-Fitr. The final squad for the series against Sri Lanka will be called out following the break and the members would join the camp following Covid-19 test.
Sri Lanka ODI team is scheduled to reach Dhaka on May 16 for the three-match series. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is yet to announce the full itinerary of the series but as per board sources the three matches will be on May 23, 25 and 27. All the matches will be played at SBNS.
Bangladesh preliminary squad:
Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Musaddek Hossain, Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Shohidul Islam
