Mominul new pick for Bangladesh Squad for the SL Tests

The national selectors announced a 15-man Test squad for next month's Sri Lanka tour, excluding ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. In place of Shakib, who will undergo an operation on his right leg this week and will subsequently be out of action for six weeks, the selectors have included middle order batsman Mominul Haque and slow-left arm bowler Enamul Haque Jr.

While this is the first time that Mominul has been included in a Test squad, Enamul has been recalled to the international arena after a gap of three years.

Other notable changes include recalls for batsman Jahurul Islam and pacer Robiul Islam, who last played Test cricket in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Anamul Haque Bijoy, who was a stand-in for Tamim Iqbal in Bangladesh's last Test against the West Indies in November, has been retained.

Speaking to reporters at Mirpur yesterday, chief selector Akram Khan said that they had discussed a number of names for Shakib's replacement. “He is our top bowler and batsman. After a long discussion we decided to take Enamul and Mominul,” said Akram.

“Enamul's place was contested by Saqlain Sajib and Mosharraf Hossain, but at the end we went with Enamul as he has a lot more experience,” he added.

Explaining the decision to include Mominul, Akram said, “We were in a bit of a tussle between Mominul and Marshall Ayub since both have performed very well in recent times. But then we thought that since we have three to four right-handed batsmen in the middle order, the left-handed Mominul would be a better choice. He would also be a better choice to counter the left-arm spin of Rangana Herath,” said Akram, adding that Marshall, who had scored two double centuries in the last domestic season, was unlucky not to have made the squad this time.

Meanwhile, Akram indicated that Anamul is most likely to make his debut in Sri Lanka next month as Jahurul Islam, the only other opener in the team, has been selected as a stand-by. “As of now, Tamim, Bijoy and (Shahriar) Nafees are our top 3, and Jahurul is our stand by. Things will be confirmed after our practice match in Sri Lanka,” the chief selector added.

Like the last Test squad picked for the West Indies Tests, the selectors have included two specialist spinners -- Shohag Gazi and Enamul -- in the squad. Unlike the last selection, Robiul's inclusion means that there are four pacers -- Shahadat Hossain, Abul Hasan and Rubel Hossain being the other three. “We are worried about our pace bowling performance. Our top pacers did not play in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) and it's not possible to judge them based on the Bangladesh Premier League T20. We had to mostly depend on our coach's opinion.”

With regard to Robiul's recall, Akram said: “Robiul has played well in the BCL and has done alright in National Cricket League. He did not get a team in the BPL. So he was in the academy for a month and according to the coach he has been improving day by day.”

SQUAD

Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Mahmudullah Riyad (vice-captain), Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Anamul Haque, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shohag Gazi, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Enamul Haque, Jahurul Islam, Mominul Haque, Shahadat Hossain, Robiul Islam.