Naim Sheikh recalled for Bangladesh ODIs vs Sri Lanka after being in the wilderness for more than two years.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced a 16-man roster for the forthcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, marking the return of left-handed opener Naim Sheikh to the one-day setup after nearly two years.
The dates of the ODI series are set for July 2–8. The first two ODIs are set to take place in Colombo, with the final match to be held in Pallekele.
The BCB decided to bring in some new players in addition to Naim Sheikh, including Litton Das, Shamim Patwary, Tanvir Islam, and Hasan Mahmud, who all returned to the ODI team. Soumya Sarkar and Nasum Ahmed were excluded from the last team that participated in the Champions Trophy, while Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah retired from ODI cricket.
Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, both pace bowlers, made their comebacks to the national team after missing the Twenty20 Internationals due to injuries.
Naim made his debut against Zimbabwe in Sylhet in March 2020 and has since played eight ODIs, scoring 95 runs.
“I think he changed his batting intent and pattern and that is what we are looking for from the third opener as there is a way Tamim and Emon bats and we are looking someone to bat with similar aggression,” BCB chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said regarding Naim.
Since some of the pace bowlers are recovering from injuries, Ashraf stated that they have chosen five of them in order to control workload. “You have to understand we have picked five pacers as some of them have workload management while others are returning from injuries,” he stated.
Ashraf went on to say that Soumya, who was also sidelined for the Pakistan T20I series, was unable to hold onto his spot because he was out for the majority of the previous season and is still being monitored for a back spasm.