Sabbir Rahman
Bangladesh kept their squad for the tri-series final unchanged but chief selector Minhajul Abedin said there could be at least one change in the starting line-up for in the title decider against Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Middle-order batsman Sabbir Rahman is likely to be dropped from Bangladesh’s playing XI after he failed to impress in whatever the opportunities that were given to him in the tournament, said Minhajul.
‘He is not in good form. We will have to take decision about him…Now it’s time to send him to domestic circuit or HP team,’ said Minhajul
Sabbir played three out four Twenty20 matches in the ongoing tri-nation series but could make only 40 runs.
He made 15 against Zimbabwe in the opening match against Zimbabwe before scoring 24 off 27 balls against Afghanistan in the next game.
Selectors were unhappy at his selfish batting in the Afghanistan game as Bangladesh were struggling to recover from top-order collapse.
He was dropped against Zimbabwe in the next match but the injury of leg-spinner Aminul Islam opened the door for him again.
But Sabbir could score just one run against Afghanistan on Saturday when the team needed him to provide skipper Sakib al Hasan some support in Bangladesh’s chase of 139-run target.
‘We have tried our level best to play him in the shorter version. But he could not express himself well whenever he got any opportunity. So we are not considering him for upper teams,’ he added.
Sabbir, who often hit the wrong headlines, was picked in Bangladesh squad for their New Zealand tour earlier this year despite not completing his six-month ban for repeated off-the-field wrongdoings.
He was part of the Tigers squad for their tri-nation series in Ireland and the following ICC World Cup in England and three-match one-day international series in Sri Lanka respectively.
Since his making comeback, he scored 279 runs in 11 innings in ODI format with a hundred against New Zealand in Dunedin and a 60-run innings against Sri Lanka in Colombo although Bangladesh could not be benefited much with his contribution as they lost both the contests.
Minhajul said that there would be no place for young leggie Aminul Islam as he was yet to recover completely from his hand injury where he received three stitches.
‘There will surely be one change. We will drop Sabbir and will include Naim Sheikh [Mohammad] in the playing XI. Shanto [Nazmul Hossain] will play in Sabbir’s place while Naim will open the innings,’ he said.
Source: New age.
