Asia Cup | Mominul Haque recalled as back-up in Bangladesh squad

09/07/2018

Bangladesh has decided to recall top-order batsman Mominul Haque as a back up for the upcoming Asian Games as many players in the squad continue to remain injury prone ahead of the tournament. The selectors believe that Mominul, who is an opener, can play one-down whenever there is a requirement.

Experienced players like Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan are all having injury issues prior to the six-team event. Tamim is having a finger injury while Shakib, in a recent interview, said that he is only 20-30% fit. Young left-handed opener Nazmul Hossain sustained a thumb injury in practice session, which is another cause of concern for the Bangladeshis.

Mominul played ODI for the last time in the 2015 World Cup but has been a Test regular for the Bangladeshis since his debut in 2013. Though his averages has only been 23.60 in 26 ODIs, his recent performance for Bangladesh A against Ireland A earned him a call up for the national team. He played a knock of 182 off 133 balls in the penultimate game of that series.

“He is a top-order batsman, who can play as an opener or in (the) one-down position. So we thought his inclusion might be useful in the tournament. We are hopeful they will both play. But we thought Mominul might play just in case they feel any problem,” said selector Habibul Bashar.

Shakib wanted to have his finger surgery done during the Asia Cup but the Bangladesh Cricket Board officials have asked him to be a part of the team in the tournament. The team management would be wanting him to perform like he did against the Windies but the injury would make it difficult.

“He is not fully fit. But if he plays anything like he played in the Caribbean, then that will be a massive asset to Bangladesh cricket,” Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes said.

Bangladesh would play Sri Lanka in the inaugural Pool A game on September 15 and in their second game, they will face Afghanistan on September 20.