Bangladesh named an unchanged squad Saturday for the first two matches of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, the first announcement by the newly formed selection panel.
The four-member panel, led by Habibul Bashar Sumon, opted to stick with the same group that featured in the ODI series against Pakistan last month, citing continuity and overall team performance. Bangladesh beat Pakistan 2-1 in the home ODI series.
“Our policy is to give adequate opportunities to anyone who comes into the team. We believe in continuity, which is why we did not change the team for this series,” Habibul, who took over last month, told reporters. The selectors also backed out-of-form opener Saif Hassan who managed just 52 runs in three matches in the Pakistan series. “We want to give him more opportunities before making a decision. We do not want to go into a chop-and-change approach,” he said.
New Zealand are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on Monday for the white-ball tour which includes three ODIs and three T20Is.
The opening two ODIs will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on April 17 and 20 followed by the third on April 23 at Chattogram. The T20I series will begin in Chattogram with matches on April 27 and 29, before concluding in Dhaka on May 2. Squad: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (captain), Rishad Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.