Thursday, May 7, 2009

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Announce Squads for T20 World Cup

Bangladesh's chief selector Rafiqul Alam told AFP: "Shamsur has been batting tremendously in recent years. He can bat at number three which has been a weak link in our batting. He is also a brilliant fielder. Mithun also scored heavily in the leagues. He is a hard-hitting batsman and can also double up as wicketkeeper."

20 year old Rehman first turned heard when he represented Bangladesh at the under 19 level. Averaging 29, one century and ten fifties from 28 first class matches. Mithun at 19 and has played only 13 first-class games, but has impressed with a strike rate of 104.

"If you look at the side we have picked you'll find that this is a nice blend of experience and youth. This is a good fielding unit with some explosive batsmen and proven slow bowlers," Alam said about the 15 man squad that is to be led by Mohammed Ashraful.

In the inaugural season of the World T20 Bangladesh did well, making their way to the super 8. Alam believes that the team has played good cricket shown considerable improvement over the past couple of years, and he hopes that they will repeat their success in the World Cup.

Meanwhile, in the Sri Lankan team, Kumara Sangakkara is to be the captain of the team. The World T20 will be his first series as captain since he took over from Jayawardane. Sri Lanka has also picked an uncapped allrounder Isuru Udana in the final 15.

21 year old Udana has been training under Sri Lanka’s bowling coach, Anusha Samaranayake, for over two years now. Samaranayake is pleased with how the youngster’s progress and believe he has the potential to replace Chaminda Vaas. 35-year old batsman Indika de Saram and Lasith Malinga (thanks to his excellent form in the IPL) too found a spot in the squad.

Sri Lankan Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (Capt.), Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Isuru Udana, Farveez Maharoof, Jehan Mubarak, Indika de Saram.


Bangladesh Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (Capt.), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Mithun Ali.

No comments:

Post a Comment