Khaled Mashud misses out

The Bangladesh Cricket Board have announced a 15-man squad for the tour of Zimbabwe. The side, which leaves next week, will play four ODIs.

The side is without experienced wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud who has failed to shake off an injury. His omission gives another chance to the talented tennager Mushfiqur Rahim.

"There is no doubt that Mashud is the No. 1 wicketkeeper," said Faruque Ahmed, the head of selection. "That's why it's unfortunate that he will be missed. Mushfiqur Rahim has already played a few matches and we hope he can show his ability.

"Definitely the World Cup was in our mind when we picked up the squad and you can say it is more or less a World Cup team. There would hardly be one or two changes from this team. We will consider tested players only," he said adding that all the players would be given chance to play in the coming series.

"Tushar failed to capitalise on the opportunities he had been given but we also have some responsibilities not to give him the chance to settle properly. We thought he is the best choice as a back-up player in the middle-order not only for his experience but also due to impressive performance in domestic cricket.

"This time we considered domestic performance and that's one of the reasons behind including Sharif and Tapash. Forhad has failed to fulfil the demand as a bowler and we think Sharif came under consideration in his place because he could be useful as third seamer in favourable conditions. Tapash is also in good form with bat and ball."

Bangladesh Habibul Bashar (capt), Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tushar Imran, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Sharif, Tapash Baisya, Abdur Razzak, Tamim Iqbal Khan.