Shakib rested, Mashrafe retained for Sri Lanka ODIs

DHAKA: Bangladesh are resting all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan but have retained skipper Mashrafe Mortaza for the three-match One-day International series against Sri Lanka later this month, chief selector said on Tuesday.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and top-order batsman Anamul Haque were also recalled to replace Shakib and batsman Liton Das, who has been rested for personal reasons.

Medium-pacer Abu Jayed, who was part of World Cup squad but did not play any games, was the other player to miss out.

“Now that the World Cup chapter is over and we are starting a new season.

This series is very important for us,” said Minhajul Abedin. “We didn’t make big changes from the World Cup squad here. As we don’t have Shakib and Liton, we included two players in their places and dropped one player.”

Mashrafe, who claimed just one wicket in eight mat­ches, shouldered the responsibility for the team’s lacklustre performance, but the BCB has kept faith on him.

Bangladesh will become the first team to tour Sri Lanka since the deadly Easter attacks in which 258 people were killed.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman.