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Axe falls on Zunaed

Selectors shortlist tri-series squad

Sports Reporter
The axe fell on opener Zunaed Siddiqui for poor form when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) shortened the squad to 18-mcmbers yesterday for the upcoming tri-nation tournament also involving India and Sri Lanka.
Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque, Mehrab Hossain, pace bowlers Dollar Mahmud and Mahbubul Alam were the other notable players to be excluded from the list, which was cut down from the 26-member preliminary squad.
There had been doubt over the fitness of some key players including captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who passed the first fitness test in the practice game at Mirpur on Saturday, but all remained in the short-list and chief selector Rafiqul Alam expressed his optimism over their inclusion in the final team.
Interestingly, the squad has been shortened for only two days, as the final team will be announced tomorrow.
The tournament will kick off with the match between hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on January 4 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
"Actually we have got positive results in terms of medical reports for our injured players like Mashrafe (Bin Mortaza), Tamim Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed but we want to be hundred percent sure about their cricketing fitness that's why we are taking time," explained chief selector Rafiqul Alam.
Inform opener Imrul Kayes, the highest run-getter in the recently concluded Premier Division Cricket League, stayed on along wi(h Tamim Iqbal, who has been out of action for over one and a half month due to injury he had during last match against Zimbabwe at Chittagong, and 1CL-returnee Shahriar Nafees.
"Zunaed is a very good batsman and he has the potential but unfortunately he has been going through a bad patch. But we hope he will be back soon. We have also dropped some other players like Enamul and Mehrab as we have to think about different combinations against the top-ranked sides we are going to face in the tri-series," said Rafiqul defending their position
1\vo other ICL-returnees Aftab Ahmed and Alok Kapali also continued to exist in the side but wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh failed to make it as Mushfiqur Rahim is fully fit to stand behind the stumps. Two experienced pace bowlers Dollar and Mahbubul were dropped as new face Shafiul Islam, who hogged the spotlight by taking 30 scalps in the Premier League, kept his position in theside.
"Our main focus is to find a right combination for the tough series," said Rafiqul.
SQUAD
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Tamim Iqbal, Syed Rasel, Rokibul Hassan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Nazmul Hossain, Nayeem Islam. Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali and Shafiul Islam.